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The    Speeches 

CHARLES    DICKENS. 

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Fine  Autotype  Portrait  of  the  Gre^t  Novelist,  by 
Count  D'Orsay,  taken,  in  1841. 

."■''^^.  ^Ji^^'ciaefer  of  \vhat,the  French  would  call  •  a  speecJi  of  occasion  '  no 
i>nt  IS  moreTia^pf.:'  -Percy  Fitzgerald. 

"  His  capital  Speeches,  every  one.,of  then^reads  like  a  pagt^f' Pickwick 
-  HE  Critic.  i    o  . 

\.- A-CIwap  EUiition,  jvithoui  Count  D'Orsay' s  Purtrait,  and  Iwutid  itipapi> 

price  25. 

London:   JOHN   CAMDEN   HOTTEN.  74  and   -5.  PiccvDiLLv. 


CHARLES     DICKENS 


THE  STORY  OF  HIS  LIFE. 


LONDON : 

PRINTED  BY  WOODFALL  AND  KINDER, 
MILFORD   tANE,  STRAND,  W.C. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2008  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/charlesdickensstOOhottrich 


Charles  Dickens 


(The  Storir  of  bis  Cifc 


AUTHOR  OF  THE   "LIFE  OF  THACKERAY" 


BLEAK  HUUbE,  AT  BROAUSTAIKS 


J17T//    ILLUSTRATIONS  AND   FACSIMILES 

(second     edition) 

LONDON 
JOHN    CAMDEN    HOTTEN,    PICCADILLY 


"  Oh,  potent  wizard  !  painter  of  great  skill 

Blending  with  life's  realities  the  hues 

Of  a  rich  fancy  :  sweetest  of  all  singers  ! 
Charming  the  public  ear,  and,  at  thy  will. 

Searching  the  soul  of  him  thou  dost  amuse, 

And  the  warm  heart's  recess,  where  mem'ry  linrjcrs» 
And  child-like  love,  and  sympathy,  and  truth, 

And  every  blessed  feeling  which  the  world 

Had  frozen  or  repressed  with  its  stem  apathy 
For  human  suffering  !     *  Crabbed  age  and  youth,' 

And  beauty,  smiling  tearful,  turn  to  thee. 
Whose  '  Carol '  is  an  allegory  fine. 
The  burden  of  whose  '  Chimes '  is  holy  and  benign !  " 

Douglas  Jerrold's  Magazine. 


ROCHESTER     CASTLE 

{Ay  seen  from  the  Railway  Bridge.) 


HE  following  brief  Memoir  of  the  late  Mr. 
Charles  Dickens  may,  perhaps,  be  accept- 
able as  filling  an  intermediate  place  between 
the  newspaper  or  review  article  and  the  more  elabo- 
rate biography  which  may  be  expected  in  due 
course.  The  writer  had  some  peculiar  means  of 
acquiring  information  for  the  purpose  of  his  sketch  ; 
and  to  this  he  has  added  such  particulars  as  have 
been  already  made  public  in  English  and  foreign 
publications  and  other  scattered  sources. 

The  common  complaints  against  memoirs  of  this 
necessarily  hasty  and  incomplete  character  will  not 
be  repeated  by  those  who  are  accustomed  to  test 
questions  in  morals  by  the  principles  which  underlie 
them.  That  there  is  nothing  necessarily  indelicate 
or  improper  in  the  desire  of  the  public  to  obtain 
some  personal  knowledge  of  the  great  and  good  who 
have  just  passed  away,  is  assumed  by  every  daily, 
weekly,  and   quarterly  journal,  which,   on  occasions 


X  PRELIMINARY. 

of  this  kind,  furnish  their  readers  with  such  details 
as  they  are  able  to  obtain,  and  who  in  no  case 
confine  themselves  strictly  to  the  public  career  of  the 
deceased. 

Although  some  facts  in  the  private  life  of  Mr. 
Dickens  will  be  found  to  be  touched  upon  in  these 
pages,  the  writer  is  not  conscious  of  having  written  a 
line  which  could  give  pain  to  others. 

In  view  of  a  second  edition — should  one  be  called 
for — the  writer  will  be  obliged  by  the  receipt  of  any 
additional  particulars  which  may  assist  in  completing 
the  outline  memoir  which  now  leaves  his  hand. 

He  cannot,  however,  conclude  without  acknowledg- 
ing the  kind  assistance  he  has  received  in  furnishing 
anecdotes  and  other  particulars  from  Mr.  Arthur 
T.ocker,  Mr.  E.  S.  Dallas,  Mr.  Blanchard  Jerrold,  Mr. 
James  Grant,  Dr.  Charles  Mackay,  Mr.  Mitchell,  of 
Bond  St.  (for  permission  to  make  reductions  of  Leslie's 
beautiful  picture,  and  Count  D'Orsay's  characteristic 
portrait),  Mr.  Edmund  Oilier,  Mr.  E.  P.  Kingston, 
Mr.  Allen,  Mr.  J.  Colam  (Secretary  to  the  Society 
for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals),  the  writers 
of  interesting  articles  in  the  Daily  News  and  the 
Observer,  and  to  Mr.  Hablot  K.  Browne,  for  his 
admirable  study  of  the  chief  characters  drawn  by 
him  for  the  late  Mr.  Dickens's  works. 


PRELIMINAR  Y.  xi 

It  would  have  been  impossible  to  have  given  the 
data  contained  in  this  little  book,  in  the  rather  short 
time  occupied  in  its  preparation,  but  for  the  hearty 
assistance  of  ]\Ir.  H.  T.  Taverner,  an  industrious 
litterateur ^  who  had  already  gathered  some  particulars 
of  the  great  novelist's  public  career. 

London, 

29//?  June,  iS'/o. 


A    TRIBUTE 

TO 

CHARLES     DICKENS. 

By  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Norton. 
{From  Albert  Schloss's  ''English  Bijou  Almanack"  fo^  1842.) 

"  Not  merely  thine  the  tribute  praise, 

Which  greets  an  author's  progress  here ; 
Not  merely  thine  the  fabled  bays, 

Whose  verdure  brightens  his  career  ; 
Thine  the  pure  triumph  to  have  taught 

Thy  brother  man  a  gentle  part ; 
In  every  line  a  fervent  thought, 

Which  gushes  from  thy  generous  heart  : 
For  thine  are  words  vi'hich  rouse  up  all 

The  dormant  good  among  us  found — 
Like  drops  which  from  a  fountain  fall, 

To  bless  and  fertilize  the  ground  ! " 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

FAGP 

Early  Career .      17 

CHAPTER  n. 
Publication  of  the  "Pickwick  Papers" 38 

CHAPTER  HI. 
Popularity  of  the  "Pickwick  Papers" 55 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Dickens  as  a  Dramatist 65 

"  Oliver  Twist  " 69 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Copyright  of  "Oliver  Twist" 'j^ 

CHAPTER  VI. 
"Nicholas  Nickleby" 83 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Publication  of  "The  Old  Curiosity  Shop"  and  "  Barnaby 

Rudge" 92 

Dickens's  Ravens 97 

"Barnaby  Rudge"  Dramatized loi 

"The  Pic-nic  Papers" 103 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Dickens's  Visit  to  America 105 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

PAGE 

Further  American  Experiences ^^9 

CHAPTER  X. 
"Martin  Chuzzlewit" ^^9 

CHAPTER  XI. 
The  "Christmas  Carol" ^3^ 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Visit  to  Italy ^5° 

"The  Chimes" ^52 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Dickens  as  an  Actor ^5^ 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Dickens  as  a  Journalist ^^4 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Appearance  of  "Dombey  and  Son" 170 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Victor  Hugo ^7° 

"The  Haunted  Man" ^^^ 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Dickens  and  Thackeray ^^S 

"David  Coppekfield" ^^° 

On  Capital  Punishment ^9^ 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

"Household  Words"   , ^95 

The  Guild  of  Literature 20X 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

"Bleak  House" 2°^ 

Leigh  Hunt 209 

CHAPTER  XX. 

American  Publishers ^^5 

The  First  Reading ^^^ 


CONTENTS,  XV 
CHAPTER  XXI. 

PAGE 

'Hard  Times" 221 

"Seven  Poor  Travellers" 223 

The  Thackeray  Dinner 225 

Johnson's  God-daughter 227 

"Holly  Tree  Inn" 228 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

"Little  Dorrit" 230 

"  Travelling  Abroad  " 233 

Tavistock  House  Theatricals 234 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Works  Translated  into  French 240 

Dickens  and  Thackeray 242 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Royal  Dramatic  College 252 

Discontinuance  OF  "  Household  Words  "       ....  254 

"All  the  Year  Round" 256 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

"  The  Uncommercial  Traveller  " 262 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Mr.  Dickens  and  the  Electors  of  Finsbury  ....  266 

"Tom  Tiddler's  Ground" 267 

"Somebody's  Luggage" 270 

"Mrs.  Lirriper's  Lodgings"       .        .        .        .        .        .        .  273 

"  Pincher" 275 

CHAPTER   XXVII. 

"Our  Mutual  Friend" 279 

The  Staplehurst  Accident 283 

"Miss  Berwick" 285 

"Dr.  Marigold's  Prescriptions" 287 

Dickens  at  the  Mansion  House 289 

Clarkson  Stanfield 291 

The  Printers'  Readers 292 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Second  Visit  to  America 294 

Pedestrian  Tastes 305 


r 


xvi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

PAGR 

The  Farewell  Readings 310 

Failing  Health 313 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

Interview  with  the  Queen 323 

Last  Illness 327 

Death 328 

Burial  in  Westminster  Abbey 332 

Funeral  Sermon 337 

His  Last  Resting-place 339 

APPENDIX. 
asecdotes  and  reminiscences. 

The  First  Hint  of  "Pickwick" 341 

Dickens  and  the  "Morning  Chronicle"        ....  344 

Portraits  of  Dickens 345 

The  Names  of  Dickens's  Characters 346 

Description  of  "Boz"  in  1844 347 

Description  of  D/ckens  in  1852 348 

Boz's  Table  Habits 349 

The  MS.  of  "Oliver  Twist" 349 

Dickens's  Benevolence 350 

Hook  and  Dickens 350 

Methodical  Habits  and  Perseverance 351 

Manner  of  Literary  Composition 353 

"The  Chief" 354 

Blue  Ink 355 

Dickens  in  Private  Life .        .  355 

Sympathy  with  Working  Men 357 

A  Beggar's  Estimate  of  his  Generosity 357 

Paragraph  Disease 357 

Dickens  and  Thackeray 538 

Anecdote  of  Abraham  Lincoln 360 

The  Contributors  to  "Household  Words"  ....  361 

"The  Mystery  of  Edwin  Drood" 362 

Gad's  Hill  House 365 

"All  the  Year  Round" 366 


A    STUDY    OF    DICKENS'S    PORTRAITS, 

1 839 -1 870. 


DANIEL   MACLISE,  R.A. 

Taken  in  1839,  and  given  as  a  frontispiece  to 
"  Nicholas  Nickleby." 


COUNT  D'ORSAY. 

From  a  pencil  sketch  made  in  1841. 


CHARLES   LESLIE,  R.A.  PHOTOGRAPH. 

From  his  painting  of  Dickens  as  "The  Copper         From  the  portrait  considered  by  Mr.  Dickens 
Captain"  in  "Every  Man  in  his  Humour."  1846.  as  his  best  likeness.     1870. 


CHARLES  DICKENS: 

THE  STORY  OF   HIS  LIFE. 


CHAPTER  L 

EARLY    CAREER. 

HE  "  Story  of  the  Life  "  of  England's  greatest 
novelist  requires  but  little  introduction. 
Of  his  ancestors  but  few  particulars  are 
recorded,  and  these  are  entirely  without  interest 
as  having  any  connection  with  the  late  illustrious 
bearer  of  the  name. 

Charles  Dickens  *  was  born  at  Landport,  Ports- 
mouth, on  the  7th  February,  1812^  his  father,  Mr. 
John  Dickens,  being  a  clerk  in  the  Navy  Pay  Office 
at  that  seaport.  His  duties  required  that  he  should 
reside  from  time  to  time  in  different  naval  stations — 

*  He  was  christened  Charles  John  Hougham  Dickens,  but 

the  full  name  (taken  partly  from  the  father' and  partly  from  his 
mother's  side)  was  too  high-sounding  for  his  simple  tastes,  and 
so  he  never  used  it,  preferring  the  plainer  form.  He  once  re- 
marked, that  had  he  been  a  fashionable  doctor,  he  might  have 
thought  differently  about  the  matter, 

B 


tPlo 


i8  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1819-22 

now  at  Plymouth,  now  at  Portsmouth,  and  then  at 
Sheerness  and  Chatham.  ^'  In  the  glorious  days " 
of  war  with  France  those  towns  were  full  of  life, 
bustle,  and  character,  and  the  father  of  the  author 
of  "  Pickwick "  was  at  times  fond  of  dilating 
upon  the  strange  scenes  he  had  witnessed.  One  of 
the  stories  described  a  sitting-room  he  once  enjoyed 
at  Blue  Town,  Sheerness,  abutting  on  the  Theatre. 
Of  an  evening  he  used  to  sit  in  his  room  and  could 
hear  what  was  passing  on  the  stage,  and  join  in  the 
chorus  of  "  God  save  the  King"  and  ''Britannia 
Rules  the  Waves  " — then  the  favourite  song  of  Eng- 
lishmen. 

On  the  termination  of  the  war  in  18 15,  a  large 
reduction  was  made  in  the  number  of  clerks  in  this 
office,  and  Mr.  Dickens  receiving  his  pension,  re- 
moved to  London  with  his  wife  and  seven  children. 
Possessing  considerable  abilities,  and  unwilling  to 
remain  idle,  he  became  parliamentary  reporter  on 
the  Monimg  Chronicle.^ 

Charles  remained  at  home  until  he  was  seven  years 
of  age,  and  was  then  sent  to  a  private  school  at 
Chatham,  the  late  Rev.  Wm.  Giles,  F.R.A.S.,  being 
his  instructor.  As  an  evidence  of  young  Dickens's 
kindly  disposition,  it  may  be  mentioned  that,  some 
years  ago,  when  such  fame  as  he  had  acquired  would 
cause  most  men  to  have  forgotten  their  former  old 
associations,  Dickens  joined  some  other  old  scholars 

*  The  old  gentleman  died  in  Keppel  Street,  Russell  Square, 
on  31st  March,  1851,  aged  6^. 


1819-28.]  EARLY  CAREER.  19 

in  the  presentation  of  a  service  of  plate  to  Mr.  Giles, 
accompanied  by  a  most  gratifying  testimonial  of 
regard,  to  which  he  attached  his  well-known  bold 
autograph.  A  fellow-scholar,  who  was  at  school  at 
the  same  time  with  Dickens  (there  being  only  two 
years  difference  in  their  ages),  used  often  to  speak  of 
the  marked  geniality  of  Dickens's  character  as  a  boy, 
and  of  his  proficiency  in  all  boyish  sports,  such  as 
cricket,  &c.  Ultimately  he  completed  his  education 
at  a  good  school,  in  or  near  London. 

At  an  early  age  he  commenced  to  read  the 
standard  works  of  the  best  authors.  In  the  preface 
to  "Nicholas  Nickleby,"  speaking  of  how  he  first 
heard  of  the  cruelties  of  the  Yorkshire  schools, 
he  describes  himself  as  being  "  a  not  very  robust 
child,  sitting  in  bye-places,  near  Rochester  Castle, 
with  a  head  full  of  Partridge,  Strap,  Tom  Pipes,  and 
Sancho  Panza."  In  "  David  Copperfield  "  (a  book 
one  can  hardly  help  fancying  is  in  some  respects 
autobiographical),  he  says  (omitting  a  few  words), — 
"From  that  blessed  little  room  Roderick  Random, 
Peregrine  Pickle,  Humphrey  Clinker,  Tom  Jones, 
the  Vicar  of  Wakefield,  Don  Quixote,  Gil  Bias,  and 
Robinson  Crusoe,  came  out,  a  glorious  host,  to  keep 
me  company.  They  kept  alive  my  fancy — they,  and 
the  *  Arabian  Nights,'  and  the  '  Tales  of  the  Genii,' 
• — and  did  me  no  harm  ;  for  whatever  harm  there  was 
in  some  of  them,  was  not  there  for  me  ;  /  knew 
nothing  of  it.  *  *  *  I  have  seen  Tom  Jones  (a 
child's  Tom  Jones,  a  harmless  creature)  for  a  week 


20  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1828-30. 

together.  I  have  sustained  my  own  idea  of  Roderick 
Random  for  a  month  at  a  stretch,  I  verily  beHeve. 
I  had  a  greedy  relish  for  a  few  volumes  of  voyages 
and  travels,  and  for  days  and  days  I  can  remember 
to  have  gone  about  my  region  of  our  house,  armed 
with  a  centre-piece  out  of  an  old  set  of  boot-trees — 
the  perfect  realization  of  Captain  Somebody,  of  the 
Royal  British  Navy,  in  danger  of  being  beset  by 
savages,  and  resolved  to  sell  his  life  at  a  great  price. 
The  Captain  never  lost  dignity  from  having  his 
ears  boxed  with  the  Latin  Grammar.  I  did  ;  but  the 
Captain  was  a  captain  and  a  hero,  in  despite  of  all 
the  grammars  of  all  the  languages  in  the  world,  dead 
or  alive." 

His  career  at  school  having  concluded,  his  father 
was  desirous  that  he  should  be  articled  to  the  law, 
and  he  entered  a  solicitor's  office  for  that  purpose. 
Dunning  (afterwards  Lord  Ashburton)  once  said : 
"  The  study  of  the  law  is  generally  ridiculed  as  dry 
and  uninteresting ;  but  a  mind  anxious  for  the  dis- 
covery of  truth  and  information  will  be  amply 
gratified  for  the  toil  of  investigating  the  origin  and 
progress  of  jurisprudence  which  has  the  good  of  the 
people  for  its  basis,  and  the  accumulated  wisdom  of 
ages  for  its  improvement."  But,  to  young  Dickens, 
it  was  ill  calculated  to  accord  with  the  literary  tastes 
he  had  formed,  and  thus  imbued  with  the  kindred 
feelings  of  some  of  his  distinguished  contemporaries 
— Disraeli,  Layard,  Harrison  Ainsworth,  and  West- 
land  Marston,  all  of  whom  passed  a  portion  of  their 


1830-32.]  EARLY  CAREER.  21 

early  days  at  an  attorney's  desk — he  became  dis- 
gusted with  the  tedious  routine  of  the  profession,  and 
resigning  all  ideas  of  propitiating  Thetis  (the  god- 
dess of  lawyers),  determined  to  become  a  reporter  like 
his  father,  who,  finding  how  strong  his  son's  ideas  were 
on  the  subject,  wisely  placed  no  obstacle  in  his  path, 
but  removed  him  from  his  uncongenial  employment, 
and  placed  him  with  the  Messrs.  Gurney,  the  parlia- 
mentary shorthand  writers  of  Abingdon  Street,  West- 
minster. It  is  said,  that  during  his  probation,  and 
whilst  practising  shorthand  writing,  Dickens  passed 
the  leisure  hours  of  some  two  years  in  the  Library  of 

the  British  Museum.  ■— 

The  manner  in  which  the  difficulties  of  stenography 
were  overcome  had  best  be  told  in  his  own  words  : — 
"  I  did  not  allow  my  resolution  with  respect  to  the 
parliamentary  debates  to  cool.  It  was  one  of  the 
irons  I  began  to  heat  immediately,  and  one  of  the 
irons  I  kept  hot  and  hammered  at  v/ith  a  perseverance 
I  may  honestly  admire.  I  bought  an  approved  scheme 
of  the  noble  art  and  mystery  of  stenography  (v/hich 
cost  me  ten-and-sixpence),*  and  plunged  into  a  sea 
of  perplexity,  that  brought  me  in  a  few  weeks  to 
the  confines  of  distraction.  The  changes  that  Avere 
rung  upon  dots,  which  in  one  position  meant  such  a 
thing,  and  in  another  position  something  else  entirely 
different ;  the  wonderful  vagaries  that  were  played 
by    circles ;    the    unaccountable   consequences   that 

*  This  was  "  Gurney 's  System  of  Shorthand,"  the  i6th 
edition  of  which  is  now  selling  at  the  old  price,  loj.  6^. 


^ 


22  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1830-32. 

resulted  from  marks  like  fly's  legs  ;  the  tremendous 
effects  from  a  curve  In  the  wrong  place ;  not  only 
troubled  my  waking  hours,  but  reappeared  before  me 
in  my  sleep.  When  I  had  groped  my  way  blindly 
through  these  difficulties,  and  had  mastered  the 
alphabet,  which  was  an  Egyptian  temple  in  itself, 
there  then  appeared  a  procession  of  new  horrors, 
called  arbitrary  characters — the  most  despotic  charac- 
ters I  had  ever  known  ;  who  insisted,  for  instance, 
that  the  thing  like  the  beginning  of  a  cobweb  meant 
expectation,  that  a  pen-and-ink  sky-rocket  stood  for 
disadvantageous.  When  I  had  fixed  these  wretches 
in  my  mind,  I  found  that  they  had  driven  everything 
else  out  of  it ;  then,  beginning  again,  I  forgot  them  ; 
while  I  was  picking  them  up,  I  dropped  the  other 
fragments  of  the  system  ;  in  short,  it  was  almost 
heart-breaking." 

Occupying  the  chair  at  the  second  anniversary  of 
the  Newspaper  Press  Fund,  on  20th  May,  1865,  and 
referring  to  his  early  reporting  days,  he  said  : — 

"  I  went  into  the  gallery  of  the  House  of  Commons 
as  a  parliamentary  reporter  when  I  was  a  boy  not 
eighteen,  and  I  left  it — I  can  hardly  believe  the  in- 
exorable truth — nigh  thirty  years  ago ;  and  I  have 
pursued  the  calling  of  a  reporter  under  circumstances 
of  which  many  of  my  brethren  at  home  in  England 
here — many  of  my  brethren's  successors — can  form 
no  adequate  conception.  I  have  often  transcribed  for 
the  printer  from  my  shorthand  notes  important  public 
speeches  in  which  the  strictest  accuracy  was  required, 


1S30-32.]  EARLY  CAREER.  23 

and  a  mistake  in  which  would  have  been  to  a  young 
man  severely  compromising ;  writing  on  the  palm  of 
my  hand  by  the  light  of  a  dark  lantern  in  a  post- 
chaise  and  four,  galloping  through  a  wild  country, 
through  the  dead  of  the  night,  at  the  then  surprising 
rate  of  fifteen  miles  an  hour.  The  very  last  time  I 
was  at  Exeter  I  strolled  into  the  castle-yard  there  to 
identify,  for  the  amusement  of  a  friend,  the  spot  on 
which  I  once  *  took,'  as  we  used  to  call  it,  an  election 
speech  of  my  noble  friend  Lord  Russell,  in  the  midst 
of  a  lively  fight  maintained  by  all  the  vagabonds  in 
that  division  of  the  county,  and  under  such  pelting 
rain,  that  I  remember  two  good-natured  colleagues, 
who  chanced  to  be  at  leisure,  held  a  pocket-hand- 
kerchief over  my  note-book  after  the  manner  of  a 
state  canopy  in  an  ecclesiastical  procession.  I  have 
worn  my  knees  by  writing  on  them  on  the  old  back 
row  of  the  old  gallery  of  the  old  House  of  Commons; 
and  I  have  worn  my  feet  by  standing  to  write  in  a 
preposterous  pen  in  the  old  House  of  Lords,  where 
we  used  to  be  huddled  like  so  many  sheep  kept  in 
waiting  till  the  woolsack  might  want  re-stuffing.  Re- 
turning home  from  excited  political  meetings  in  the 
country  to  the  waiting  press  in  London,  I  do  verily 
believe  I  have  been  upset  in  almost  every  description 
of  vehicle  known  in  this  country.  I  have  been,  in 
my  time,  belated  on  miry  by-roads  towards  the  small 
hours,  forty  or  fifty  miles  from  London,  in  a  rickety 
carriage,  with  exhausted  horses  and  drunken  post- 
boys, and  have  got  back  in  time  before  publication, 


/ 


24  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS,  [1S30-32. 

to  be  received  with  never-forgotten  compliments  by- 
Mr.  Black,  in  the  broadest  of  Scotch,  coming  from 
the  broadest  of  hearts  I  ever  knew.  I  mention  these 
trivial  things  as  an  assurance  to  you  that  I  never 
have  forgotten  the  fascination  of  that  old  pursuit. 
The  pleasure  that  I  used  to  feel  in  the  rapidity  and 
dexterity  of  its  exercise  has  never  faded  out  of  my 
breast.  Whatever  little  cunning  of  hand  or  head  I 
took  to  it,  or  acquired  in  it,  I  have  so  retained  as  that 
I  fully  believe  I  could  resume  it  to-morrow.  To  this 
present  year  of  my  life,  when  I  sit  in  this  hall,  or 
Vv^here  not,  hearing  a  dull  speech — the  phenomenon 
does  occur — I  sometimes  beguile  the  tedium  of  the 
moment  by  mentally  following  the  speaker  in  the  old,, 
old  way ;  and  sometimes,  if  you  can  believe  me,  I 
even  find  my  hand  going  on  the  table-cloth.  Accept 
these  little  truths  as  a  confirmation  of  what  I  know,, 
as  a  confirmation  of  my  interest  in  this  old  calling.. 
I  verily  believe,  I  am  sure,  that  if  I  had  never  quitted 
my  old  calling,  I  should  have  been  foremost  and. 
zealous  in  the  interest  of  this  institution,  believing  it. 
to  be  a  sound,  a  wholesome,  and  a  good  one." 

"  That  there  was  no  exaggeration  in  this  state- 
ment," writes  a  personal  friend,*  "he  proved  in  the 
course  of  that  very  year  by  giving  a  series  of  lessons 
in  shorthand  to  a  young  man,  a  connection  of  his,, 
when  his  fluency  and  perspicuity  were  found  to  be  as. 
great  as  ever."    To  the  same  writer  he  once  told  a 

*  In  the  Observer t  12th  June,  1870. 


1832-34.]  EARLY  CAREER.  25 

curious  anecdote  of  his  reporting  days  : — "  The  late 
Earl  of  Derby,  then  Lord  Stanley,  had  on  some 
important  occasion  made  a  grand  speech  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  This  speech,  of  immense 
length,  it  was  found  necessary  to  compress,  bat  so 
admirably  had  its  pith  and  marrow  been  given  in  the 
Morning  Chronicle,  that  Lord  Stanley  sent  to  the 
office,  requesting  that  the  gentleman  who  had  reported 
it  would  wait  upon  him  at  his  residence  in  Carlton- 
House  Terrace,  that  he  might  then  and  there  take 
down  the  speech  in  its  entirety  from  his  lordship's 
lips,  Lord  Stanley  being  desirous  of  having  a  perfect 
transcript  of  it.  The  reporter  was  Charles  Dickens. 
He  attended,  took  down  the  speech,  and  received 
Lord  Stanley's  compliments  on  his  work.  Many 
years  after,  Mr.  Dickens,  dining  for  the  first  time  with 
a  friend  in  Carlton-House  Terrace,  found  the  aspect 
of  the  dining-room  strangely  familiar  to  him,  and  on 
making  inquiries,  discovered  that  the  house  had 
previously  belonged  to  Lord  Derby,  and  that  that 
was  the  very  room  in  which  he  had  taken  down  Lord 
Stanley's  speech."  It  is  understood  that  our  author 
practised  reporting  in  the  Law  Courts  before  going 
to  the  Houses  of  Parliament. 

The  first  paper  he  obtained  an  engagement  on  was 
The  True  Sim,  with  the  managers  of  which  he  soon 
became  noted  for  the  succinctness  of  his  reports,  and 
the  judicious,  though  somewhat  ruthless,  style  with 
which  he  cut  down  unnecessary  verbiage,  displaying 
the  substance  to  the  best  advantage,  and  exemplifying 


a5  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1833-35. 

the  well-known  maxim  of  Perry,  the  famous  chief  of 
the  Morning  Chronicle,  that  "  Speeches  cannot  be 
made  long  enough  for  the  speakers,  nor  short  enough 
for  the  readers^ 

Remaining  for  a  brief  period  on  the  staff  of  The 
Trne  Sun,  he  seceded  to  the  Mirror  of  Parliamenty 
which  had  started  with  the  express  object  of  reporting 
the  debates  verbatim.  Mr.  Barrow,  Dickens's  uncle, 
was  the  conductor ;  its  downfall,  however,  was  rapid, 
as  it  only  existed  two  sessions. 

Through  his  father's  influence  he  was  next  securea 

an  appointment  on  the  Morning  Chronicle,  a  news- 

'^       paper  originally  established  on  Whig  principles,  by 

Woodfall,  in   1769.     By   a   remarkable  coincidence, 

three  of  its  chief  parliamentary  reporters  afterwards 

attained  to  eminent  positions.     The  late  Lord  Chan- 

^^,.,.>^    cellor  Campbell  commenced  his  career  on  its  staff; 

on  his  resignation  William    Hazlitt  (the  celebrated 

-^      essayist)  supplied  his   place,  who  was  in  turn  suc- 

^^ceeded  by  Mr.  Charles  Dickens. 

Whilst  Dickens  was  reporting  for  the  Morning 
Chronicle,  it  fell  in  the  way  of  his  duty  to  go  down 
into  Devonshire,  where  Lord  John  Russell — who  had 
accepted  the  post  of  Secretary  of  State  in  the  new 
Melbourne  cabinet — was  seeking  re-election  (May, 
1835)  from  his  old  constituency.  As  his  Lordship 
had  been  instrumental  in  getting  Peel  and  the  tories 
out  of  office,  his  constituents  resented  the  act  by 
returning  another  member  in  his  place.  It  is  to  this 
noisy  election  that  Dickens  alludes  in  the  extract 


I833-3S-]  EARLY  CAREER.  27 

from  his  speech  on  "  reporting "  given  above.  In 
those  days  of  coaching  and  slow  letter-post,  Dickens 
had  to  keep  his  editor  fully  informed  of  the  best  and 
quickest  transit  for  his  "  reports  ;"  and,  by  the  kind- 
ness of  the  then  sub-editor,  who  received  Dickens's 
letters,  and,  believing  in  the  man  as  heartily  as  the 
great  John  Black  did,  has  carefully  preserved  them 
to  the  present  time,  I  am  enabled  to  give  an  extract 
from  the  identical  letter  received  from  him  when  on 
this  journey.  He  writes  from  the  Bush  Inn  at  Bris- 
tol, a  famous  hostelry  for  commercial  travellers,  and 
a  noted  "  coaching  "  house  for  persons  bound  to  the 
West  of  England.  The  letter  was  dated  Tuesday 
morning : — 

"The  conclusion  of  Russell's  dinner  will  be  for- 
warded by  Cooper's  Company's  coach,  which  leaves 
here  at  half-past  six  to-morrow  morning.  The  report 
of  the  Bath  dinner  shall  be  forwarded  by  the  first 
Bath  coach  on  Thursday  morning — what  time  it  starts 
we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  till  we  reach  Bath ; 
but  you  will  receive  it  as  early  as  possible,  as  we  will 
indorse  the  parcel  *  Pay  the  porter  2/6  extra  for 
immediate  delivery.'  Beard  will  go  over  to  Bath 
from  here  to-morrow  morning,  and  I  shall  come  back 
by  the  mail  from  Marlborough.  I  need  not  say  that 
it  will  be  sharp  work,  and  will  require  two  of  us  ;  for 
we  shall  both  be  up  the  whole  of  the  previous  night, 
and  shall  have  to  sit  up  all  night  again  to  get  it  off 
in  time. 

"  As  soon  as  we  have  had  a  little  sleep,  we  shall 


28  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1S33-3S. 

return  to  town  as  quickly  as  we  can,  for  we  have  (if 
the  express  succeeds)  to  stop  at  two  or  three  places 
along  the  road,  to  pay  money  and  express  satisfaction. 
You  may  imagine  that  we  are  extremely  anxious  to 
know  the  result  of  the  arrangement.  Pray  direct  to 
one  of  us  at  the  '  White  Hart,'  Bath,  and  inform  us 
in  a  parcel  scut  by  the  FIRST  COACH  after  yon  receive 
this,  exactly  at  wJiat  hour  it  arrived.  Do  not  fail  on 
any  account. 

"  We  joined  with  the  Herald  (I  say  this  In  reference 
to  the  first  part  of  your  letter)  precisely  on  the  prin- 
ciple you  at  first  laid  down — economy ;  not  pushed 
so  far,  however,  as  to  interfere  with  the  efficiency  of 
the  express.  As  the  conclusion  of  the  dinner  was  to 
be  done,  we  all  thought  the  best  plan  we  could  pursue 
would  be  to  leave  two  men  behind,  and  trust  Russell 
to  the  others.  I  have  no  doubt  if  he  makes  a  speech 
of  any  ordinary  dimensions,  it  can  be  done  by  the 
time  we  reach  Marlborough ;  and  taking  into  con- 
sideration the  immense  importance  of  having  the 
addition  of  saddle-horses  from  thence,  it  is,  beyond 
all  doubt,  worth  an  effort. 
"  Believe  me 

"  (For  self  and  Beard), 

"  Very  sincerely  yours, 
"Charles  Dickens. 

"*^*  I  thought  of  putting  the  accompanying  letter 
to  my  brother  in  the  post.  Will  you  have  the  kind- 
ness to  send  a  boy  with  it  ?" 


I833-35-]  EARLY  CAREER.  29 

This  is,  in  all  likelihood,  the  only  letter  of  Dickens's 
reporting  days  now  in  existence.  As  a  record  of  his 
industry  and  business  foresight  it  is  most  interesting, 
and  the  glimpses  that  it  gives  of  the  wild  life  lead 
by  a  reporter  in  those  days,  show  us  the  source  of 
that  wonderful  knowledge  of  those  old  coaching 
days  and  that  old  tavern  life  that  have  passed  out 
of  actual  existence,  to  live  for  ever  in  Dickens's  pages. 
We  may  just  say  that  it  is  Mr.  Thomas  Beard,  one  y\ 
of  the  first  reporters  in  England,  and  Dickens's  dear  ^ 
friend,  who  is  alluded  to  in  the  letter ;  the  Mr.  Frank 
Beard,  who  attended  the  great  novelist  in  his  last 
moments,  is,  we  believe,  a  brother  of  this  gentleman. 

Concerning  Dickens's  earliest  printed  writings,  Mr. 
James  Grant,  the  well-known  journalist  and  author, 
has  supplied  us  with  an  account  which  differs  much 
from  what  has  been  elsewhere  said  upon  this  part  of 
our  author's  career.  "  It  is  everywhere  stated,"  says 
Mr.  Grant,  "that  the  earliest  productions  from  his  pen 
made  their  appearance  in  the  columns  of  the  Morn- 
ing Chronicle,  and  that  Mr.  John  Black,  then  editor 
of  that  journal,  was  the  first  to  discover  and  duly  to 
appreciate  the  genius  of  Mr.  Dickens.  The  fact  was 
not  so.  It  is  true  that  he  wrote  *  Sketches '  after- 
wards in  the  Morning  Chronicle,  but  he  did  not  begin 
them  in  that  journal.  Mr.  Dickens  first  became  con- 
nected with  the  Morning  Chronicle  as  a  reporter  in 
the  gallery  of  the  House  of  Commons.  This  was  in 
1S35-36  ;  but  Mr.  Dickens  had  been  previously  en- 
gaged, while  in  his  nineteenth  year,  as  a  reporter  for 


\ 


so  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1833-35. 

a  publication  entitled  the  Mirror  of  Parliament,  in 
which  capacity  he  occupied  the  very  highest  rank 
among  the  eighty  or  ninety  reporters  for  the  press 
then  in  Parliament.  While  in  the  gallery  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  he  was  exceedingly  reserved  in 
his  manners.  Though  interchanging  the  usual  cour- 
tesies of  life  with  all  with  whom  he  came  into  contact 
in  the  discharge  of  his  professional  duties,  the  only 
gentleman  at  that  time  in  the  gallery  of  the  House 
of  Commons  with  whom  he  formed  a  close  personal 
intimacy,  was  Mr.  Thomas  Beard,  then  a  reporter  for 
the  Morning  Herald,  and  now  connected  with  the 
newspaper  press  generally,  as  furnishing  the  Court 
intelligence  in  the  morning  journals.  The  friendship 
thus  formed  between  Mr.  Dickens  and  Mr.  Beard  so 
far  back  as  the  year  1832  was,  I  believe,  continued 
till  the  death  of  Mr.  Dickens. 

"It  was  about  the  year  1833-34,  before  Mr. 
Dickens's  connection  with  th.^  Morning  Chronicle,  and 
before  Mr.  Black,  then  editor  of  that  journal,  had 
ever  met  with  him,  that  he  commenced  his  literary 
career  as  an  amateur  writer.  He  made  his  de'b2it  in 
the  latter  end  of  1834  or  beginning  of  1835,  in  the 
Old  Monthly  Magazine,  then  conducted  by  Captain 
Holland,  an  intimate  friend  of  mine.  The  Old  Monthly 
Magazine  had  been  started  more  than  a  quarter  of 
a  century  before  by  Sir  Richard  Philips,  and  was 
for  many  years  a  periodical  of  large  circulation  and 
high  literary  reputation — a  fact  which  might  be 
inferred   from   another  fact,  namely,  that  the  New 


r\ 


1833-35.]  EARLY  CAREER.  31 

Mojithly  Magazine^  started  by  Mr.  Colburn,  under  the 
editorial  auspices  of  Mr.  Thomas  Campbell,  author 
of  *  The  Pleasures  of  Hope/  appropriated  the  larger 
portion  of  its  title.  The  Old  Monthly  Magazine 
was  published  at  half-a-crown,  being  the  same  price 
as  Blackwood,  Fraser,  and  Bentley's  magazines  are  at 
the  present  day. 

"  It  was,  as  I  have  said,  in  this  monthly  periodical 
— not  in  the  columns  of  the  Morning  Chronicle — that 
Mr.  Dickens  first  appeared  in  the  realms  of  litera-     /• 
ture.     He  sent,  in  the  first  instance,  his  contributions 
to  that  periodical  anonymously.     These  consisted  of      / 
sketches,  chiefly  of  a  humorous  character,  and  were  0  * 
simply  signed  '  Boz.*     For  a  long  time  they  did  not 
attract   any   special   attention,   but   were    generally 
spoken  of  in  newspaper  notices  of  the  magazine,  as 
*  clever,'  *  graphic,'  and  so  forth. 

"Early  in  1836  the  editorship  of  the  ]\Ionthly 
Magazine — the  adjective  '  Old'  having  been  by  this 
time  dropped — came  into  my  hands  ;  and  in  making 
the  necessary  arrangements  for  its  transfer  from 
Captain  Holland — then,  I  should  have  mentioned, 
proprietor  as  well  as  editor — I  expressed  my  great 
admiration  of  the  series  of  *  Sketches  by  Boz,' 
which  had  appeared  in  the  Monthly,  and  said  I 
should  like  to  make  an  arrangement  with  the  writer 
for  a  continuance  of  them  under  my  editorship. 
With  that  view  I  asked  him  the  name  of  the  author. 
It  will  sound  strange  in  most  ears  when  I  state,  that 
a  name  which  has  for  so  many  years  filled  the  whole 


32  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1833-35. 

civilized  world  with  its  fame,  was  not  remem- 
bered by  Captain  Holland.  But  he  added,  after 
expressing  his  regret  that  he  could  not  at  the 
moment  recollect  the  real  name  of  *  Boz/  that  he 
had  received  a  letter  from  him  a  few  days  previously, 
and  that  if  I  would  meet  him,  at  the  same  time  and 
place,  next  day,  he  would  bring  me  that  letter,  be- 
cause it  related  to  the  '  Sketches '  of  the  writer  in 
the  Monthly  Magazine.  As  Captain  Holland  knew 
I  was  at  the  time  a  parliamentary  reporter  on  the 
Morning  Chrojiicle,  then  a  journal  of  high  literary 
reputation,  and  of  great  political  influence,  he  supple- 
mented his  remark  by  saying  that '  Boz '  was  a  parlia- 
mentary reporter ;  on  which  I  observed,  that  I  must, 
in  that  case,  know  him,  at  least  by  sight,  as  I  was 
acquainted,  in  that  respect,  more  or  less,  with  all  the 
reporters  in  the  gallery  of  the  House  of  Commons. 

"  Captain  Holland  and  I  met,  according  to  ap- 
pointment, on  the  following  day,  when  he  brought 
me  the  letter  to  which  he  had  referred.  I  then  found 
that  the  name  of  the  author  of  '  Sketches  by  Boz ' 
was  Charles  Dickens.  The  letter  was  written  in  the 
most  moderate  terms.  It  was  simply  to  the  effect  that 
as  he  (Mr.  Dickens)  had  hitherto  given  all  his  contri- 
butions— those  signed  *  Boz  ' — gratuitously,  he  would 
be  glad,  if  Captain  Holland  thought  his  *  Sketches ' 
to  be  worthy  of  any  small  remuneration,  as  otherwise 
he  would  be  obliged  to  discontinue  them,  because  he 
was  going  very  soon  to  get  married,  and  therefore 
would  be  subjected  to  more  expenses  than  he  was 


T  H  K     HOME    OF    CHARLES     D  I  C  K  E  X  S. 
1 833- 1 836. 


THE  HOUSE  IN  FURNIVAUS  INK. 
Our  Author's  earliest  London  home  after  leaving  his  father's  house. 


Here  he  had 


chambers  when  a  reporter,  and  some  time  before  he  received  any  appointment  as  a 
writer  for  the  press.  Here  the  "  Sketches  by  Boz"  were  written,  and  the  larger  por- 
tion of  his  best-known  work,  the  inimitable  "  Pickwick  Papers." 


1333-35-]  EARLY  CAREER.  33 

while  living  alone,  which  he  was  during  the  time,  in 
Furnival's  Inn. 

"  It  was  not  quite  clear  from  Mr.  Dickens's  letter  to 
Captain  Holland,  whether  he  meant  he  would  be  glad 
to  receive  any  small  consideration  for  the  series  of 

*  Sketches,'  about  a  dozen  in  number,  which  he  had 
furnished  to  the  Montlily  Magazine  without  making 
any  charge,  or  whether  he  only  expected  to  be  paid 
for  those  he  might  afterwards  send.  Neither  do  I 
know  whether  Captain  Holland  furnished  him  with 
any  pecuniary  expression  of  his  admiration  of  the 

*  Sketches  by  Boz '  which  had  appeared  in  the 
Monthly.  But  immediately  on  receiving  Mr.  Dickens's 
letter,  I  wrote  to  him,  saying  that  the  editorship  of 
the  Montlily  Magazine  had  come  into  my  hands,  and 
that,  greatly  admiring  his  *  Sketches '  under  the 
signature  of  *  Boz,'  I  should  be  glad  if  we  could 
come  to  any  arrangement  for  a  continuance  of  them. 
I  concluded  my  note  by  expressing  a  hope  that  he 
would,  at  his  earliest  convenience,  let  me  know  on 
what  terms  per  sheet  he  would  be  willing  to  furnish 
me  with  similar  sketches  every  month  for  an  indefinite 
period. 

"  By  return  of  post  I  received  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Dickens,  to  the  effect  that  he  had  just  entered  into 
an  arrangement  with  Messrs.  Chapman  and  Hall  to 
write  a  monthly  serial.  He  did  not  name  the  work, 
but  I  found  in  a  few  weeks  it  was  none  other  than 
the  *  Pickwick  Papers.'  He  added,  that  as  this 
serial  would  occupy  much  of  his  spare  time  from  his 

C 


34  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1833-35. 

duties  as  a  reporter,  he  could  not  undertake  to  furnish 
me  with  the  proposed  sketches  for  less  than  eight 
guineas  per  sheet,  which  was  at  the  rate  of  half-a- 
guinea  per  page. 

"  I  wrote  to  him  in  reply,  that  the  price  was  not 
too  much,  but  that  I  could  not  get  the  proprietor 
to  give  the  amount,  because  when  the  Monthly 
Magai^me  came  into  his  hands,  it  was  not  in  the  same 
flourishing  state  as  it  once  had  been.  I  was  myself, 
at  this  time,  getting  ten  guineas  a  sheet  from 
Captain  Marryat  for  writing  for  his  Metropolitan 
Magazine,  which  was  started  by  Thomas  Campbell 
and  Tom  Moore,  in  opposition  to  the  New 
Monthly  Magazine,  and  at  the  rate  of  twenty 
guineas  per  sheet  for  my  contributions  to  the  Penny 
Cyclopcedia. 

"  Only  imagine,"  concludes  Mr.  Grant,  with  pardon- 
able fervour,  ^'  Mr.  Dickens  offering  to  furnish  me  with 
a  continuation,  for  any  length  of  time  which  I  might 
have  named,  of  his  ^  Sketches  by  Boz '  for  eight 
guineas  a  sheet,  whereas  in  little  more  than  six 
months  from  that  date  he  could — so  great  in  the 
interval  had  his  popularity  become — have  got  100 
guineas  per  sheet  of  sixteen  pages  from  any  of  the 
leading  periodicals  of  the  day!"* 

Dr.  Charles  Mackay  writes  to  us: — "John  Black, 
of  the  Mornifig  Chronicle,  was  always  keen  to  dis- 
cover young  genius,  and  to  help  it  onwards  in  the 

*  Morning  Advertiser,  I3tlijune,  1870. 


I833-35-]  EARLY  CAREER.  35 

struggle  of  life.  He  very  early  discovered  the  talents 
of  Dickens — not  only  as  a  reporter,  but  as  a  writer." 
Dr.  Mackay  was  sub-editor  of  the  Morning  Chronicle 
when  Dickens  was  a  reporter.  He  continues  : — "  I 
have  often  heard  Black  speak  of  him,  and  predict  his 
future  fame.  When  Dickens  had  become  famous, 
Black  exerted  all  his  influence  with  Sir  John  East- 
hope,  principal  proprietor  of  the  Chronicle,  to  have 
Dickens  engaged  as  a  writer  of  leading  articles.  He 
(Black)  had  his  wish,  and  Dickens  wrote  several 
articles  ;  but  he  did  not  seem  to  take  kindly  to  such 
work,  and  did  not  long  continue  at  it." 

And  Mr.  Gruneisen  writes  :  "  I  believe  I  must  add 
my  name  to  the  remaining  list  of  editorial  workers 
who  became  acquainted  with  Charles  Dickens  when 
he  was  in  the  Gallery.  I  hope  my  memory  is  not 
deceiving  me  when  I  claim  for  Vincent  Dowling, 
once  a  reporter,  and  for  years  the  respected  editor  of 
Bell's  Life  in  London,  the  credit  of  having  been  the 
first  to  discover  the  genius  for  sketching  characters 
of  Dickens.  'J.  G.'  may  remember  that  the  pro- 
prietary of  the  Morning  Chronicle,  the  Observer,  and 
BelVs  Life  was  in  the  hands,  if  I  remember  rightly, 
exclusively  of  Mr.  Perry,  and  the  publication  of  the 
several  papers  was  at  the  Strand  office.  I  have  a 
distinct  recollection  that  Dr.  Black's  notice  of  Dickens 
was  based  on  writings  which  had  been  in  print  prior 
to  his  joining  the  reporting  staff  of  the  Morning 
CJironicle.  Dr.  Black  was  always  very  emphatic  in 
his  prognostications  of  the  brilliant  future  of  Charles 

C  2 


36  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1833-35. 

Dickens.  In  1835  the  famed  novelist  was  spoken  of 
amongst  his  colleagues  as  a  man  of  mark.  The  *  Boz  * 
sketches,  if  not  the  rage  of  the  general  public,  had 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  literary  circles  of  the 
day. 

"  Respecting  the  marvellous  facility  of  Dickens  as 
a  reporter,  many  versions  of  his  note-taking  of  a 
speech  of  the  late  Lord  Derby  (when  Lord  Stanley) 
have  been  current,  and  I  had  a  correspondence  with 
Dickens  on  the  subject  only  some  months  since,  he 
promising  to  give  me  the  accurate  record  of  his 
stenographic  feat  when  he  met  me.  This  promise  he 
fulfilled  the  last  time,  alas  !  I  ever  saw  him  alive,  at 
the  anniversary  dinner  of  the  Newsvendors'  Benevo- 
lent Institution,  when  he  took  the  chair  in  Free- 
masons' Hall — the  last  banquet  at  which  he  presided. 
It  was  in  consequence  of  a  reporter  having  broken 
down  for  the  Mirror  of  Parliame7it  that  the  late 
Lord  Derby,  after  complimenting  Dickens  for  his 
report  in  the  Chronicle^  dictated  to  him  his  speech, — 
the  Mhror,  as  you  are  aware,  giving  in  those  days 
verbatim  reports." 

When  Charles  Dickens  first  became  acquainted 
with  Mr.  Vincent  Dowling,  editor  of  Bell's  Life — or 
"  Sleepless  Life,"  as  he  facetiously  termed  it,  from  its 
Latin  heading,  "  Ntmqiiain  Dormio  "  ("  wide  awake  ") 
—he  would  generally  stop  at  old  Tom  Goodwin's 
oyster  and  refreshment  rooms,  opposite  the  office,  in 
the  Strand.  On  one  occasion,  Mr.  Dowling,  not 
knowing  who  had  called,  desired  that  the  gentleman 


1833-35]  EARLY  CAREER.  37 

would  leave  his  name,  to  be  sent  over  to  the  office, 
whereupon  young  Dickens  wrote, 


"CHARLES   DICKENS, 

"  Resurrectionist^ 

" In  search  of  a  subject'* 


Some  recent  cases  of  body-snatching  had  then 
made  the  matter  a  general  topic  for  public  discus- 
sion, and  Goodwin  pasted  up  the  strange  address- 
card  for  the  amusement  of  the  medical  students  who 
patronized  his  oysters.  It  was  still  upon  his  wall 
when  "  Pickwick "  had  made  Dickens  famous,  and 
the  old  man  was  never  tired  of  pointing  it  out  to 
those  whom  he  was  pleased  to  call  his  "bivalve 
demolishers !" 

We  may  just  mention  that  It  was  Dowling  who 
rushed  down  from  the  reporters*  gallery  and  seized 
Bellingham,  after  his  assassination  of  Spencer  Per- 
ceval. 

The  late  Mr.  Jerdan  used  to  describe  how  he 
caught  the  Prime  Minister  in  his  arms. 


CHAPTER  II. 

PUBLICATION   OF  THE  ''PICKWICK   PAPERS." 


E  have  thought  it  right  to  give  Mr.  Grant's 
personal  account  of  Dickens's  early  career 
entire^  but  it  is  only  fair  to  other  friends  of 
the  deceased  novelist,  who  have  favoured  us  with  par- 
ticulars, that  their  recollections  should  find  a  place  in 
these  pages.  From  them  we  learn  that  in  the  year 
1835  our  author  made  his  debut  as  a  writer,  "with  the 
exception  of  certain  tragedies  achieved  at  the  mature 
age  of  eight  or  ten,  and  represented  with  great  ap- 
plause to  overflowing  nurseries."  His  first  sketch, 
entitled  "Mrs.  Joseph  Porter,"  was  inserted  in  the 
Old  Monthly  Magazine,  In  the  preface  to  the  "  Pick- 
wick Papers,"  mention  is  made  of  the  effect  its  pub- 
lication had  on  him  : — 

" My  first   effusion — dropped   stealthily   one 


evening  at  twilight,  with  fear  and  trembling,  into  a 
dark  letter-box,  in  a  dark  office,  up  a  dark  court  in 
Fleet  Street — appeared  in  all  the  glory  of  print ;  on 
which  occasion,  by  the  bye — how  well  I  recollect  it ! — 
I  walked  down  to  Westminster  Hall,  and  turned  into 
it  for  half  an  hour,  because  my  eyes  were  so  dimmed 


^2:^^-S.'\  PUBLICATION  OF  THE   "PICKWICK  PAPERS."   39 

with  joy  and  pride,  that  they  could  not  bear  the 
street,  and  were  not  fit  to  be  seen  there."  A  number 
of  other  papers  were  sent  to  the  same  magazine,  and 
subsequently  he  contributed  a  similar  series  to  the 
evening  edition  of  the  Morning  Chro7iicle. 

The  pseudonym  adopted  was  "  BOZ,"  which  quaint 
signature  subsequently  gave  rise  to  the  epigram, — 

**  Who  the  dickens '  Boz '  could  be 
Puzzled  many  a  curious  elf; 
Till  time  unveil'd  the  mystery. 
And  *Boz  '  appear'd  as  Dickens'  self." 

And  Tom  Hood,  in  the  character  of  an  "unedu- 
cated poet,"  says, — 

*'  Arn't  that  'ere  '  Boz '  a  tip-top  feller ! 
Lots  writes  well,  but  he  writes  Weller !" 

The  reason  for  such  a  singular  noni  dc  plume  is 
thus  told  by  the  author  himself: — ^^ Boz  was  the 
nickname  of  a  pet  child,  a  younger  brother,  whom  I 
had  dubbed  Moses,  in  honour  of  'The  Vicar  of 
Wakefield ; '  which  being  facetiously  pronounced 
through  the  nose  became  Boses,  and  being  shortened 
became  Boz.  Boz  was  a  very  familiar  household 
word  to  me  long  before  I  was  an  author,  and  so  I 
came  to  adopt  it." 

The  reception  the  "Sketches"  met  with  was,  we  are 
assured,  immense  ;  and  it  has  been  truly  said — "  They 
were  the  first  of  their  class.  Dickens  was  the  first  to 
unite  the  delicately  playful  thread  of  Charles  Lamb's 
street  musings — half  experiences,  half  bookish  phan- 
tasies— with  the  vigorous  wit,  and  humour,  and  ob- 


40  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1836. 

servatlon  of  Goldsmith's  *  Citizen  of  the  World,'  his 
*  IndigePxt  Philosopher,'  and  *  Man  in  Black,'  and  twine 
them  together  in  that  golden  cord  of  Essay,  which 
combines  literature  with  philosophy,  humour  with 
morality,  amusement  with  instruction."  The  wonder- 
ful fund  of  humour  and  picturesque  word-painting 
contained  in  them  surprises,  even  in  these  days,  most 
persons  who  read  them  for  the  first  time.  They  are, 
as  Pope  wrote — 

"  From  grave  to  gay,  from  lively  to  severe.** 

The  most  thrilling  and  impressive  are,  undoubtedly, 
"  A  Visit  to  Newgate  "  and  "  The  Drunkard's  Death," 
while,  perhaps,  the  best  comic  ones  are  the  celebrated 
"  Election  for  Beadle,"  "  Greenwich  Fair,"  and  "  Miss 
Evans  at  the  Eagle." 

In  February,  1836,  the  first  series,  in  two  volumes, 
illustrated  by  George  Cruikshank,  was  published  in 
a  collected  form  by  Macrone,  of  St.  James's  Square, 
and  in  the  December  following  the  second  series  was 
issued.  Macrone,  shortly  afterwards,  being  in  dis- 
tressed circumstances,  sold  the  copyright  to  Messrs. 
Chapman  and  Hall  for  ;;^  1,100.  At  the  present  day, 
their  popularity  still  remains  unabated,  and  it  is 
seldom,  at  a  Penny  Reading  or  entertainment  by  an 
Elocution  Class,  that  one  or  more  of  them  is  not 
selected  as  a  staple  attraction  in  the  programme. 

To  show  how  persons,  at  times,  may  take  a  mis- 
taken and  bigoted  view  of  things  in  general,  and  how 
apt  they  are  to  look  with  jaundiced  eyes  on  humor- 


1836.J   PUBLICATION  OF  THE   " PICKWICK  PAPERS."      41 

ous  writing,  we  may  be  pardoned  for  mentioning 
that,  at  one  of  the  Penny  Readings  at  Stowmarket, 
Suffolk,  some  nine  years  since,  on  the  announcement 
of  a  Mr.  Gudgeon's  intention  to  read  "  The  Blooms- 
bury  Christening,"  he  received  this  epistle  from  the 
horrified  Rector : — 

"  Stowmarket  Vicarage,  Feb.  25,  1861. 
"Sir, 

"  My  attention  has  been  directed  to  a  piece  called  *  The 
Bloomsbury  Christening,'  which  you  propose  to  read  this 
evening.  Without  presuming  to  claim  any  interference  in  the 
arrangement  of  the  Readings,  I  would  suggest  to  you,  whether 
you  have,  on  this  occasion,  sufficiently  considered  the  character 
of  the  composition  you  have  selected.  I  quite  appreciate  the 
laudable  motive  of  the  promoters  of  the  Readings,  to  raise  the 
moral  tone  and  direct  this  taste  in  a  familiar  and  pleasant 
manner.  *  The  Bloomsbury  Christening '  cannot  possibly  do 
this.  It  trifles  with  a  sacred  ordinance,  and  the  language  and 
style,  instead  of  improving  the  taste,  has  a  direct  tendency  to 
lower  it. 

**  I  appeal  to  your  right  feeling  whether  it  be  desirable  to 
give  publicity  to  that  which  must  shock  several  of  your  audience, 
and  create  a  smile  amongst  others,  to  be  indulged  in  only  by 
violating  the  conscientious  scruples  of  their  neighbours. 

"  The  ordinance  which  is  here  exposed  to  ridicule  is  one 
which  is  much  misunderstood  and  neglected,  amongst  many 
families  belonging  to  the  Church  of  England,  and  the  mode  in 
which  it  is  treated  in  this  chapter  cannot  fail  to  appear  as 
giving  a  sanction  to,  or  at  least  excusing,  such  neglect. 

"  Although  you  are  pledged  to  the  public  to  give  this  subject, 
yet  I  cannot  but  believe  that  they  would  fully  justify  your  sub- 
stitution of  it   by  another,  did  they  know   the  circumstances. 


42  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1S36. 

An  abridgment  would  only  lessen  the  evil,  as  it  is  not  only  the 
style  of  the  writing,  but  the  subject  itself,  which  is  objection- 
able. 

"  Excuse  me  for  troubling  you,  but  I  felt  that,  in  common, 
with  yourself,  I  have  a  grave  responsibility  in  the  matter,  and  I 
am,  most  truly  yours, 

"T.  S.  Coles. 
*'  To  Mr.  J.  Gudgeon." 

It  is  not  generally  known  that  some  time  before 
"  Pickwick  "  had  been  thought  of  by  either  publisher 
or  author,  Dickens  was  engaged  upon  a  novel,  the 
fate  of  which  we  may  now  never  know.  The  success, 
of  the  "  Sketches  "  was  such — a  second  edition  being 
called  for  immediately  after  they  were  issued — 
that  Macrone  entered  into  an  arrangement  with 
"Boz"  to  publish  this  work  in  the  regular  three 
volume  form.  The  title  was  to  be  "  Gabriel 
Vardon," — and  a  new  novel  by  the  author  of 
"  Sketches  by  Boz  "  was  at  once  advertised  by  the 
publisher,  and  continued  to  be  so  announced  until 
the  commencement  of  1837,  when  Macrone  failed  in 
business,  and  the  advertisement  was  withdrawn. 
Could  the  novel  have  been  laid  aside  to  appear,  four 
years  later,  in  the  altered  form  of  "  Barnaby  Rudge," 
in  which — as  the  reader  may  remember — "  Gabriel 
Varden  "  (not  Vardo7i),  the  father  of  Dolly,  is  one  of 
the  principal  characters } 

It  has  been  recently  stated,  in  more  than  one 
journal,  that  "  The  Sketches  by  Boz "  v/ere  not 
republished  in  a  collective  form  until  after  the  suc- 
cess of   "  Pickwick."      This   is   a  mistake.      It  was 


1836.]    PUBLICATION  OF  THE   ''PICKWICK  PAPERS."     43 

in  the  month  following  the  publication  of  the 
''Sketches" — in  March,  1836 — that  the  first  number 
of  the  "  Pickwick  Papers "  was  issued,  and  in  the 
following  year  the  work  was  published  in  a  complete 
form,  and  dedicated  to  Mr.  Serjeant  Talfourd,  an  old 
and  attached  friend,  and  one  of  the  first  to  recognize 
Dickens's  extraordinary  genius.  He  it  was  that  pre- 
sided at  the  monthly  dinner,  at  the  conclusion  of 
which  the  proof  of  the  forthcoming  number  of 
"  Pickwick "  was  read  by  him  (Talfourd).  The 
guests — some  half  a  dozen  literary  and  personal 
friends — expressed  their  opinions,  suggesting  changes, 
&c.,  which  the  author  took  kindly,  and  often  availed 
himself  of. 

His  friend,  the  late  Mr.  Maclise,  often  told  how  that 
he,  John  Forster,  and  Charles  Dickens  used  to  meet 
at  "Jack  Straw's  Castle,"  Hampstead  Heath,  and 
there  Dickens  would  read  to  them  that  which  he  had 
written  during  the  week  ;  and  this  done,  the  rest  of 
the  time  would  be  passed  in  a  pleasant  commingling 
of  good  cheer  and  genial  criticism.  "  But  this,"  the 
great  artist  would  add,  "  was  in  the  good  old  days 
gone  by,  when  we  were  all  young,  and  had  the  world 
before  us." 

Subsequently,  in  sending  a  complete  copy  of  the 
work  to  his  friend  Talfourd,  he  took  occasion  to  speak 
of  his  learned  friend's  exertions  to  secure  to  authors 
an  extended  term  of  copyright  in  their  works  : — 

"  If  I  had  not  enjoyed  the  happiness  of  your 
private  friendship,  I  should  still  have  dedicated  this 


44  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1S36. 

work  to  you,  as  a  slight  and  most  inadequate  ac- 
knowledgment  of  the   inestimable  services  you  are 

rendering  to  the  literature  of  your  country 

Many  a  fevered  head  and  palsied  hand  will  gather 
new  vigour  in  the  hour  of  sickness  and  distress  from 
your  excellent  exertions  ;  many  a  widowed  mother 
and  orphan  child,  who  would  otherwise  reap  nothing 
from  the  fame  of  departed  genius  but  its  too  frequent 
legacy  of  poverty  and  suffering,  will  bear,  in  their 
altered  condition,  higher  testimony  to  the  value  of 
your  labours  than  the  most  lavish  encomium  from 
lip  or  pen  could  ever  afford. 

"  Besides  such  tributes,  any  avowal  of  feeling  from 
me,  on  the  question  to  which  you  have  devoted  the 
combined  advantages  of  your  eloquence,  character, 
and  genius,  would  be  powerless  indeed.  Nevertheless, 
in  thus  publicly  expressing  my  deep  and  grateful 
sense  of  your  efforts  in  behalf  of  English  literature, 
and  of  those  who  devote  themselves  to  the  most 
precarious  of  all  pursuits,  I  do  but  imperfect  justice 
to  my  own  strong  feelings  on  the  subject,  if  I  do  no 
service  to  you." 

The  entire  letter  was  printed  as  an  introduction  to 
the  old,  original,  and  large-size  edition  of  "  Pickwick," 
but  it  has  been  omitted  in  the  "Charles  Dickens 
Edition  "  recently  issued. 

An  amusing  anecdote  is  remembered  of  our  author 
and  the  learned  Serjeant.  At  a  public  dinner,  some 
years  afterwards,  Mr.  Talfourd,  regretting  the  absence 
of  his  friend  Dickens,  paid  an  appropriate  and  well- 


1836.]    PUBLICATION  OF  THE   ''PICKWICK  PAPERS."     45 

merited  compliment  to  the  breadth  of  surface  over 
which  the  Hfe,  character,  and  general  knowledge, 
contained  in  his  works,  extended.  The  reporter,  not 
rightly  hearing  this,  or  not  attending  to  it,  but  pro- 
bably saying  to  himself,  "  Oh,  it 's  about  Dickens — 
one  can't  go  wrong,"  gave  a  version  of  the  learned 
Serjeant's  speech  in  the  next  morning's  paper,  to  the 
effect  that  Mr.  Dickens's  genius  comprised  that  of  all 
the  greatest  minds  of  the  time  put  together,  and  that 
his  works  represented  all  their  works.  The  high 
ideal  and  imaginative — the  improvements  in  the 
steam-engine  and  machinery — all  the  new  discove- 
ries in  anatomy,  geology,  and  electricity,  with  the 
prize  cartoons,  and  history  and  philosophy  thrown 
into  the  bargain — one  had  only  to  search  from  the 
"  Sketches  by  Boz  "  down  to  "  Martin  Chuzzlewit "  to 
lind,insome  shape  or  other — ''properly  understood" — 
all  these,  and  much  more  ;  in  fact,  everything  valu- 
able which  the  world  of  letters  elsewhere  contains ! 
We  need  hardly  say  that  no  reader  of  this  astound- 
ing report  was  more  amused  than  was  Mr.  Dickens 
himself,  when  he  glanced  over  his  newspaper  on  the 
following-  morning;.  '       '~'    ""^ 


A  great  deal  has  been  said  of  the  origin  of  Pick- 
wick and  his  Club,  but  notwithstanding  the  accounts 
given  by  both  author  and  artist  are  perplexingly  cir- 
cumstantial, the  reader  will  have  but  little  difficulty 
in  coming  to  a  conclusion  upon  the  matter. 

The  artist's  account,  given  in  the  introduction  to 
the  last  edition  of  "  Seymour's  Sketches,"  is  this : — 


46  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1836. 

*'  Seymour  was  very  fond  of  horticultural  pursuits, 
and  took  great  pains  in  cultivating  a  very  nice  garden 
which  was  attached  to  his  house.  Being  rather  disap- 
pointed with  the  effect  of  his  gardening  operations,  it 
was  suggested  to  him  that  the  misfortunes  of  an 
amateur  gardener  might  be  made  the  subject  of  some 
humorous  drawings.  After  revolving  the  idea  in  his 
mind  for  a  short  time,  he  resolved  upon  converting  it 
into  something  of  a  sporting  character,  and  said  it 
should  be  *  Pickwick  and  his  Club.'  His  first  notion 
was  to  bring  it  out  on  a  similar  plan  to  that  of  the 
*  Heiress,'  which  appeared  in  1830,  and  he  proposed 
the  subject  to  Mr.  McLean.  This  was  in  the  autumn 
of  1835,  during  which  Mr.  Spooner  frequently  called 
at  Seymour's  house  to  ascertain  the  progress  of  the 
plates  for  the  *  Book  of  Christmas,'  and  on  one  of 
these  occasions  Seymour  brought  forward  the  project 
of  *  Pickwick,'  which  Spooner  highly  approved  ;  and  in 
talking  the  matter  over  between  them,  it  v/as  decided 
that  it  would  be  an  improvement  to  add  letterpress. 
The  undertaking  was  so  far  put  in  motion  that  Sey- 
mour etched  four  plates  from  the  drawings  which  he 
had  made,  and  Mr.  Spooner  suggested  that  Theodore 
Hook  should,  if  possible,  be  engaged  for  the  letter- 
press. In  consequence  of  Spooner  being  very  much 
occupied  in  the  production  of  the  '  Book  of  Christmas,' 
which,  through  the  author's  (T.  K.  Hervey's)  dilatori- 
ness,  came  out  a  month  later  than  it  should  have 
done,  *  Pickwick '  lay  in  abeyance,  and  the  four  plates 
that  were  etched  remained  in  the  artist's  drawer  for 


1836.]    PUBLICATION  OF  THE   ''PICKWICK  PAPERS."     An 

about  three  months,  so  that  Seymour  began  to  think 
that  if  he  did  not  soon  hear  from  Spooner  he  would 
bring  out  the  work  on  his  own  account,  and  get  H. 
Mayhew  or  Moncrieff  to  write  for  it.  In  February, 
1836,  Mr.  Chapman,  the  pubHsher,  called  on  Seymour 
and  asked  him  to  make  a  drawing  for  a  woodcut, 
which  Seymour  undertook  on  the  express  condition 
that  it  should  be  engraved  by  a  certain  engraver 
whom  he  named.  At  this  interview  he  mentioned 
the  ^  Pickwick'  design  to  Mr.  Chapman,  and  showed 
him  the  plates.  Chapman  very  soon  closed  with  his 
offer,  proposing  at  first  that  it  should  be  brought  out 
in  half-guinea  volumes  ;  but  Seymour,  who  desired 
the  widest  circulation,  insisted  on  his  original  plan, 
for  it  was  his  own  idea  that  it  should  be  in  shil- 
ling monthly  numbers.  The  publisher  then  asked 
Seymour  if  he  had  engaged  an  author  to  do  the 
writing,  and  upon  receiving  an  answer  in  the  negative,^  -, 
mentioned  Mr.  Clarke,  the  author  of  *  Three  Courses  <— ^ 
and  a  Dessert.'  This  writer,  however,  the  artist  ob-  "  , 
jectcd  to,  for  a  private  reason.  Chapman  then  spoke 
of  '  Boz '  (Mr.  Dickens's  pseudonym),  and  having  in 
his  hand  one  of  the  '  Pickwick '  drawings,  which  was 
a  representation  of  a  poor  author's  troubles  (after- 
wards converted  into  the  *  Stroller's  Tale '),  he  ended 
the  matter  by  some  pleasantry  about  the  proverbial 
poverty  of  literary  men,  and  expressed  a  hope  that 
he  would  see  Mr.  Dickens,  and  lay  his  views  of  the 
matter  before  him.  Soon  after  an  interview  took 
place  between  the  parties,  and  the  sum  of  ;^I5  per 


> 


48  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKEXS.  [1836. 

month  was  agreed  on  as  Dickens's  recompense.  The 
artist,  however,  soon  found,  Hke  Winkle  on  the  tall 
horse,  that  it  v/as  a  difficult  thing  to  direct  the 
motions  of  an  author  who  had  his  o^\ti  views  to 
consult.  Seymour's  scheme  was  certainly  a  form  of 
narrative  in  which  the  principal  incidents  should  be 
of  a  sporting  character,  something,  as  Mr.  Dickens 
describes  it,  *  a  Ximrod  Club,  the  members  of  which 
were  to  go  out  shooting,  fishing,  and  so  forth.* 
Whether  this  design  involves  such  a  pastoral  sim- 
plicity, and  restricts  the  range  of  description  so  much 
as  ]\Ir.  Dickens  seems  to  imply,  is  perhaps  capable  of 
being  disproved.  Certain  it  is  that  sketches  to  illus- 
trate the  '  Pickvvick  Papers '  were  designed  a  con- 
siderable time  before  the  letterpress  was  arranged 
for ;  and  the  well-known  portrait  of  the  founder  of 
the  club  existed  on  paper  at  least  five  years  prior  to 
I\Ir.  Chapman's  visit  to  Seymour  when  the  artist  un- 
folded his  views.  In  the  second  plate  of  the  'Heiress* 
series,  published  !March  I,  1830,  I\Ir.  Pickwick  in- 
troduces the  modest  girl,  just  arrived  from  the 
countr}-,  to  Lady  Dashfort,  who  exclaims,  '  And 
blushing  too — hovr  ver\*  amusing  ! '  The  figure  of 
Pickwick  was  a  favourite  character,  a  sort  of  stock- 
piece  with  Seymour — ^just  as  Mr.  Briggs  and  Pater- 
familias were  favourites  of  John  Leech,  or  as  that 
stout  elderly  gentleman,  with  well-brushed  whiskers, 
and  invariably  attired  in  a  buttoned-up  frock-coat,  is 
of  Mr.  Charles  Keene.  In  Sketch  114  of  '  Seymour's 
Sketches,'  a  figure  very  closely  resembling  the  well- 


C.-^rM, 


POSTHUMOUS     PAPERS 


%\M^ 


^ 


i^T^m,p 


%  '♦i 


PERAMBULATIONS,  PERILS.  TRAVELS,  ADVENTURES 

Sporting  Cransattions 

OF     THE    COBBESPONDIiiG     MEMBERS. 


EDITED    BY    "BOZ." 

WITH     I  I-LIjSTP  AT)f)>?.s. 


wtiuiuay    .>i>  EVANi,]  i.'':si>0>     '.  HAi'MAX  Jc  HAU'.,    Is6,  ^liCAND.  rtti>TFR3,  wmTrrniARS. 


Mar<C«)LX\ 


1836.]    PUBLICATION  OF  THE   '' PICKWICK  PAPERS."     49 

known  form  of  Pickwick  may  be  seen.  It  should 
here  be  stated  that  the  original  designs  were  in  some 
degree  modified,  as  it  is  certain,  from  an  entry  in  the 
artist's  books,  that  the  first  four  plates  were  re-etched. 
By  whatever  combination  of  counsels  it  happened, 
the  first  number  of  'Pickwick'  came  out  April  1st, 
and  was  very  successful.  Mr.  Dickens  wrote  to  Sey- 
mour the  following  letter  : — 

"  *  My  dear  Sir, — I  had  intended  to  write  you  to 
say  how  much  gratified  I  feel  by  the  pains  you  have 
bestowed  on  our  mutual  friend  Mr.  Pickwick,  and 
how  much  the  result  of  your  labours  has  surpassed 
my  expectations.  I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  con- 
gratulate you,  the  publishers,  and  myself  on  the 
success  of  the  undertaking,  Vvdiich  appears  to  have 
been  most  complete. 

"  *  I  have  now  another  reason  for  troubling  you. 
It  is  this.  I  am  extremely  anxious  about  the 
"  Stroller's  Tale,"  the  more  especially  as  many 
literary  friends,  on  whose  judgment  I  place  great 
reliance,  think  it  will  create  considerable  sensation. 
I  have  seen  your  design  for  an  etching  to  accompany 
it.  I  think  it  extremely  good,  but  still  it  is  not  quite 
my  idea  ;  and  as  I  feel  so  very  solicitous  to  have 
it  as  complete  as  possible,  I  shall  feel  personally 
obliged  if  you  will  make  another  drawing.  It  will 
give  me  great  pleasure  to  see  you,  as  well  as  the 
drawing,  when  it  is  completed.  With  this  view  I 
have  asked  Chapman  and  Hall  to  take  a  glass  of 
grog  with  me  on  Sunday  evening  (the  only  night  I 


so  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1836. 

am  disengaged),  when  I  hope  you  will  be  able  to 
look  in. 

"  *  The  alteration  I  want  I  will  endeavour  to 
explain.  I  think  the  woman  should  be  younger — 
the  dismal  man  decidedly  should,  and  he  should  be 
less  miserable  in  appearance.  To  communicate  an 
interest  to  the  plate  his  whole  appearance  should 
express  more  sympathy  and  solicitude  ;  and  while  I 
represented  the  sick  man  as  emaciated  and  dying,  I 
would  not  make  him  too  repulsive.  The  furniture  of 
the  room  you  have  depicted  admirably.  I  have 
ventured  to  make  these  suggestions,  feeling  assured 
that  you  will  consider  them  in  the  spirit  in  which  I 
submit  them  to  your  judgment.  I  shall  be  happy  to 
hear  from  you  that  I  may  expect  to  see  you  on 
Sunday  evening. — Dear  Sir,  very  truly  yours, 

"  *  Charles  Dickens.' 

"  In  compliance  with  this  wish,  Seymour  made  a 
new  drawing  for  the  '  Stroller's  Tale,'  which  he  etched 
on  steel,  and  gave  it  Into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Dickens 
on  the  Sunday  evening  appointed.  This  ws^  the 
last  illustration  the  artist  did  for  *  Pickwick.'  His 
sad  death,  which  took  place  April  20th,  1836,  is 
perhaps  known  to  the  reader. 

"  The  second  number  of  the  *  Pickwick  Papers  * 
contained  the  following  just  eulogium  : — '  Some  time 
must  elapse  before  the  void  the  deceased  gentleman 
has  left  in  his  profession  can  be  filled  up.  The  blank 
his  death  has  occasioned  in  the  society  which  his 


1836.]    PUBLICATION  OF  THE   '' PICKWICK  PAPERS."     51 

amiable  nature  won,  and  his  talents  adorned,  we 
hardly  hope  to  see  supplied.  We  do  not  allude  to 
this  distressing  event  in  the  vain  hope  of  adding-,  hy 
any  eulogium  of  ours,  to  the  respect  in  which  the 
late  Mr.  Seymour's  memory  is  held  by  all  who  ever 
knew  him.' 

"  Mr.  Dickens  adds  : — '  Some  apology  is  due  to 
our  readers  with  only  three  plates.  When  we  say 
they  comprise  Mr.  Seymour's  last  efforts,  and  that 
upon  one  of  them  in  particular  (the  embellishments 
of  the  "  Stroller's  Tale")  he  was  engaged  to  a  late 
hour  of  the  night  preceding  his  death,  we  feel  con- 
fident the  excuse  will  be  deemed  a  sufficient  one.' 
This,  however,  is  incorrect.  We  have  already  said 
that  this  plate,  which  was  certainly  the  last  Seymour 
did  for  '  Pickwick,'  was  given  to  Mr.  Dickens  on  the 
Sunday  evening  on  which  Seymour  met  him  at  Fur- 
nival's  Inn,  about  a  fortnight  before." 

Such  is  the  artist's  account. 

As  recently  as  March,  1 866,  a  letter  concerning  this 
subject  appeared  in  the  AtheiicBimi,  signed  "  R.  Sey- 
mour." This  was  from  the  son  of  the  artist  who 
drew  those  inimitable  caricatures  of  George  IV.  and 
his  Ministry,  and  who,  as  we  have  seen,  was  associated 
with  Dickens  in  the  production  of  Pickwick. 

The  following  was  Mr.  Dickens's  reply,  sent  to  the 
editor  of  the  Atheiiceum  : — 

"  Gad's  Hill  Place,  March  28,  1866. 

"  As  the  author  of  the  '  Pickwick  Papers  '  (and  of 
one  or  two  other  books),  I  send  you  a  few  facts,  and 

D  2 


52  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1836. 

no  comments,  having  reference  to  a  letter  signed  '  R. 
Seymour,'  which  in  your  editorial  discretion  you  pub- 
lished last  week. 

"  Mr.  Seymour,  the  artist,  never  originated,  sug- 
gested, or  in  any  way  had  to  do  with,  save  as  illus- 
trator of  what  I  devised,  an  incident,  a  character 
(except  the  sporting  tastes  of  Mr.  Winkle),  a  name, 
a  phrase,  or  a  word,  to  be  found  in  the  '  Pickwick 
Papers.' 

''  I  never  saw  Mr.  Seymour's  handwriting,  I  believe, 
in  my  life. 

.  "  I  never  even  saw  Mr.  Seymour  but  once  in  my 
life,  and  that  was  within  eight-and-forty  hours  of  his 
untimely  death.  Two  persons,  both  still  living,  were 
present  on  that  short  occasion. 

"  Mr.  Seymour  died  when  only  the  first  twenty-four 
printed  pages  of  the  '  Pickwick  Papers '  were  pub- 
lished ;  I  think  before  the  next  three  or  four  pages 
were  completely  written  ;  I  am  sure  before  one  sub- 
sequent line  of  the  book  was  invented. 

"  In  the  Preface  to  the  cheap  edition  of  the  ^  Pick- 
wick Papers,'  published  in  October,  1847,  I  thus 
described  the  origin  of  that  work  : — '  I  was  a  young 
man  of  three-and-twenty,  when  the  present  pub- 
lishers, attracted  by  some  pieces  I  was  at  that  time 
writing  in  the  Morning  Chronicle  newspaper  (of  which 
one  series  had  lately  been  collected  and  published  in 
two  volumes,  illustrated  by  my  esteemed  friend  Mr. 
George  Cruikshank),  waited  upon  me  to  propose 
a  something  that  should  be  published    in   shilling 


4 


1836.]    PUBLICATION  OF  THE   "  PICKWICK  PAPERS."     53 

numbers — then  only  known  to  me,  or,  I  believe,  to 
anybody  else,  by  a  dim  recollection  of  certain  inter- 
minable novels  in  that  form,  which  used,  some  five- 
and-twenty  years  ago,  to  be  carried  about  the  country 
by  pedlars,  and  over  some  of  which  I  remember  to 
have  shed  innumerable  tears  before  I  served  my 
apprenticeship  to  Life.  *  *  *  Xhe  idea  pro- 
pounded to  me  was  that  the  monthly  something 
should  be  a  vehicle  for  certain  plates,  to  be  executed 
by  Mr.  Seymour ;  and  there  was  a  notion,  either  on 
the  part  of  that  admirable  humorous  artist,  or  of  my 
visitor  (I  forget  which),  that  a  *'  Nimrod  Club,"  the 
members  of  which  were  to  go  out  shooting,  fishing, 
and  so  forth,  and  getting  themselves  into  difficulties 
through  their  want  of  dexterity,  would  be  the  best 
means  of  introducing  these.  I  objected,  on  consi- 
deration, that  although  born  and  partly  bred  in  the 
country,  I  was  no  great  sportsman,  except  in  regard 
of  all  kinds  of  locomotion  ;  that  the  idea  was  not 
novel,  and  had  been  already  much  used  ;  that  it 
would  be  infinitely  better  for  the  plates  to  arise 
naturally  out  of  the  text ;  and  that  I  should  like  to 
take  my  own  way,  with  a  freer  range  of  English 
scenes  and  people,  and  was  afraid  I  should  ultimately 
do  so  in  any  case,  Vv-hatever  course  I  might  prescribe 
to  myself  at  starting.  J\Iy  views  being  deferred  to, 
I  thought  of  Mr.  Pickwick,  and  wrote  the  first  num- 
ber ;  from  the  proof  sheets  of  which  Mr.  Seymour 
made  his  drawing  of  the  Club,  and  that  happy  por- 
trait of  its  founder,  by  which  he  is  ahvays  recognized, 


54  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1836. 

and  which  may  be  said  to  have  made  him  a  reaHty. 
I  connected  Mr.  Pickwick  with  a  club  because  of 
the  original  suggestion,  and  I  put  in  Mr.  Winkle 
expressly  for  the  use  of  Mr.  Seymour.  We  started 
with  a  number  of  twenty-four  pages  instead  of 
thirty-two,  and  four  illustrations  in  lieu  of  a  couple. 
Mr.  Seymour's  sudden  and  lamented  death  before 
the  second  number  was  published,  brought  about  a 
quick  decision  upon  a  point  already  in  agitation  ;  the 
number  became  one  of  thirty-two  pages  with  two 
illustrations,  and  remained  so  to  the  end. 

"In  July,  1849,  some  incoherent  assertions  made  by 
the  widow  of  Mr.  Seymour,  in  the  course  of  certain 
endeavours  of  hers  to  raise  money,  induced  me  to 
address  a  letter  to  Mr.  Edward  Chapman,  then  the 
only  surviving  business  partner  in  the  original  firm 
of  Chapman  and  Hall,  who  first  published  the 
'  Pickwick  Papers,'  requesting  him  to  inform  me  in 
writing  whether  the  foregoing  statement  was  correct. 

"  In  Mr.  Chapman's  confirmatory  answer,  imme- 
diately written,  he  reminded  me  that  I  had  given 
Mr.  Seymour  more  credit  than  was  his  due.  *  As 
this  letter  is  to  be  historical,'  he  wrote,  'I  may  as 
well  claim  what  little  belongs  to  me  in  the  matter, 
and  that  is,  the  figure  of  Pickwick.  Seymour's 
first  sketch'  (made  from  the  proof  of  my  first 
chapter)  ^was  for  a  long,  thin  man.  The  present 
immortal  one  he  made  from  my  description  of  a 
.friend  of  mine  at  Richmond.' " 


CHAPTER   III. 

POPULARITY   OF   TPIE   "PICKWICK   PAPERS." 

\R.  JAMES  GRANT'S  account  of  Dickens's 
earliest  writings  we  have  already  given. 
SI  The  same  gentleman  has  favoured  us  with 
some  personal  recollections  of  the  fortune  which 
attended  the  first  publication  of  "  Pickwick": — 

"  In  connection  with  the  rapidity  of  Mr.  Dickens's 
rise,  and  the  heights  to  which  he  soared  in  the 
regions  of  literature,  I  may  mention  a  few  facts 
which  have  not  before  found  their  way  into  print. 
The  terms  on  which  he  concluded  an  arrangement 
with  Messrs.  Chapman  and  Hall  for  the  publication 
of  the  *  Pickwick  Papers,'  were  fifteen  guineas  for 
each  number,  the  number  consisting  of  two  sheets, 
or  thirty-two  pages.  That  was  a  rather  smaller  sum 
than  that  at  which  he  ofTered,  just  at  the  same  time, 
to  contribute  to  the  MontJily  Magazine,  then  under 
my  Editorship. 

"  For  the  first  five  months  of  its  existence  Mr. 
Dickens's  first  serial,  the  '  Pickwick  Papers,*  was  a 
signal  failure,  and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Mr. 
Charles  Tilt,  at  that  time  a  publisher  of  consider- 
able  eminence,   made   extraordinary  exertions,  out 


S^  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICICEXS.  [1S36-7. 

of  friendship  for  Messrs.  Chapman  and  Hall,  to  en- 
sure its  success.  He  sent  out,  on  what  is  called  sale 
or  return,  to  all  parts  of  the  provinces,  no  fewer  than 
fifteen  hundred  copies  of  each  of  the  first  five  numbers. 
This  gave  the  '  Pickwick  Papers  '  a  very  extensive 
publicity,  yet  Mr.  Tilt's  only  result  was  an  average 
sale  of  about  fifty  copies  of  each  of  the  five  parts.  A 
certain  number  of  copies  sold,  of  course,  through 
other  channels,  but  commercially  the  publication  was 
a  decided  failure.  Two  months  before  this  Mr. 
Seymour,  the  artist,  died  suddenly,  but  left  sketches 
for  two  parts  more,  and  the  question  was  then 
debated  by  the  publishers  whether  they  ought  not  to 
discontinue  the  publication  of  the  serial.  But  just 
while  the  matter  was  under  their  consideration,  Sam 
Weller,  who  had  been  introduced  in  the  previous 
number,  began  to  attract  great  attention,  and  to  call 
forth  much  admiration.  The  press  was  all  but 
unanimous  in  praising  '  Samivel '  as  an  entirely 
original  character,  whom  none  but  a  great  genius 
could  have  created  ;  and  all  of  a  sudden,  in  con- 
sequence of  '  Samivel's  '  popularity,  the  '  Pickwick 
Papers'  rose  to  an  unheard-of  popularity.  The  back 
numbers  of  the  work  were  ordered  to  a  large  extent, 
and  of  course  all  idea  of  discontinuing  it  was 
abandoned. 

"  No  one  can  read  these  interesting  incidents  with- 
out being  struck  with  the  fact  that  the  future  literary 
career  of  Mr.  Dickens  should  have  been  for  a  brief 
season   placed    in    circumstances   of   so    much    risk 


1836.]    POPULARITY  OF  THE   "PICKWICK  PAPERS.  57 

of  proving  a  failure  ;  for  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
had  the  pubhcation  of  his  serial  been  discontinued 
at  this  particular  period,  there  was  little  or  no  pro- 
bability that  other  publishers  would  have  undertaken 
the  risk  of  any  other  literary  venture  of  his.  And 
he  might  consequently  have  lived  and  died,  great  as 
his  gifts  and  genius  were,  without  being  known  in  the 
world  of  literature.  How  true  it  is  that  there  is  a 
tide  in  the  affairs  of  men  ! 

*'  By  the  time  the  '  Pickwick  Papers  '  had  reached 
their  twelfth  number,  that  being  half  of  the  numbers 
of  which  it  was  originally  intended  the  work  should 
consist,  Messrs.  Chapman  and  Hall  were  so  gratified 
with  the  signal  success  to  which  it  had  now  attained, 
that  they  sent  Mr.  Dickens  a  cheque  for  ^^500,  as  a 
practical  expression  of  their  satisfaction  with  the 
sale.  The  work  continued  steadily  to  increase  in 
circulation  until  its  completion,  when  the  sale  had 
all  but  reached  40,000  copies.  In  the  interval 
between  the  twelfth  and  concluding  number,  Messrs. 
Chapman  and  Hall  sent  Mr.  Dickens  several  cheques, 
amounting  in  all  to  ;^3,ooo,  in  addition  to  the  fifteen 
guineas  per  number  which  they  had  engaged  at  the 
beginning  to  give  him.  It  was  understood  at  the  time 
that  Messrs.  Chapman  and  Hall  made  a  clear  profit 
of  nearly  ;^20,ooo  by  the  sale  of  the  '  Pickwick 
Papers,'  after  paying  Mr.  Dickens  in  round  numbers 

"  Probably,"  concludes  Mr.  Grant,  "  there  are  few 
instances   on   record  in  the   annals   of  literature   in 


S8  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1836. 

which  an  author  rose  so  rapidly  to  popularity  and 
attained  so  great  a  height  in  it  as  Mr.  Dickens.  His 
popularity  was  all  the  more  remarkable  because  it 
was  reached  while  yet  a  mere  youth.  He  was  in- 
comparably the  most  popular  author  of  his  day  be- 
fore he  had  attained  his  twenty-sixth  year ;  and 
what  is  even  more  extraordinary  still,  he  retained  the 
distinction  of  being  the  most  brilliant  author  of  the 
age  until  the  very  hour  of  his  death, — a  period  of  no 
less  than  thirty-five  years." 

Since  the  illustrious  author's  decease  even  the 
bookbinders  who  had  the  charge  of  "  Pickwick " 
have  been  claiming  the  honour  of  stitching  the  sheets 
■together,  and  giving  their  recollections  to  the  news- 
papers. It  having  been  stated  in  the  Daily  Telegraph 
that  "  it  was  a  question  between  Messrs.  Chapman 
and  Hall  and  their  binder,  Mr.  Bone "  (the  gentle- 
man who  bound  the  book  now  in  the  reader's  hand) 
^'whether  a  greater  or  less  number  than  seven  hun- 
dred copies  should  be  stitched  in  wrappers,  instead 
of  hundreds,  it  soon  became  necessary  to  provide 
for  the  sale  of  thousands  ;  and  the  green  covers  of 
'Pickwick'  were  seen  all  over  the  country."  But  a 
Mr.  Joseph  Aked,  of  Green  Street,  Leicester  Square, 
on  the  following  day  sent  this  correction  to  the  same 
journal : — 

"Sir, — In  your  sketch  of  the  life  and  death  of 
Mr.  Charles  Dickens,  in  yesterday's  Telegraph,  you 
state  that  the  first  order  given  to  the  binder  for 
Part  I.  of  the  *  Pickwick'  was  700  copies,  and  it  was  a 


1835.]    POPULARITY  OF  THE   "  PICk'lVICK  PAPERS."       59 

question  between  Messrs.  Chapman  and  Hall,  and 
Mr.  Bone,  the  binder,  whether  a  greater  or  less 
number  than  700  should  be  stitched  in  wrapper. 

"The  first  order  for  Part  I.  of  the  '  Pickwick '  was 
for  400  copies  only,  and  the  order  was  given  to  my- 
self to  execute  (not  to  Mr.  Bone)  by  Messrs.  Chap- 
man and  Hall,  the  publishers,  who  in  those  days  did 
not  consult  the  binder  about  the  number  of  copies 
they  would  require.  Also  the  first  number,  stitched 
and  put  in  the  green  cover,  was  done  by  myself,  my 
workpeople  having  left  off  work  for  the  day. 

"  Before  the  completion  of  the  work  the  sale 
amounted  to  nearly  40,000,  the  orders  being  given 
to  myself  and  to  Mr.  Bone." 

Readers  of  "  Pickwick "  found  the  style  so  fresh 
and  novel,  so  totally  unlike  the  forced  fun  and  unreal 
laughter  of  the  other  light  reading  of  their  time, 
that  the  smallest  scrap  from  any  portion  of  the  work 
was  deemed  worthy  of  frequent  quotation — a  gem  in 
itself.  We  have  seen  a  little  book — now  very  rare, 
and  not  to  be  found  in  the  British  Museum — of  which 
thousands  and  thousands  of  copies  must  have  been 
sold  by  Mr.  Park,  of  Long  Lane,  and  Mr.  Catnach, 
of  Seven  Dials,  bearing  the  title  of  "Beauties  of 
Pickwick." 

The  famed  Pickwick  cigar — the  "  Penny  Pick- 
wick "  of  our  childhood — is  too  well  known  to  need 
any  comment.  It  was  a  "  brand "  originally  made 
by  a  manufacturer  in  Leman  Street,  Minories, 
and  sold  in  boxes  and  papers   decorated  with  Mr. 


6o  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1836. 

Pickwick,  hat  off,  bowing  to  you  in  the  pohtest 
manner,  and  offering  for  your  notice  a  long  scroll, 
setting  forth  the  excellence  of  the  cigar — a  small 
cheroot,  and  containing  about  one  half  of  the  tobacco 
used  in  a  cigar  of  this  kind  sold  at  2d.  At  the 
present  day  "  Pickwicks  "  are  patronized  almost  en- 
tirely by  cab-drivers. 

Then  there  were  "  Pickwick "  hats,  with  narrow 
brims  curved  up  at  the  sides  as  in  the  figure  of  the 
immortal  possessor  of  that  name ;  *'  Pickwick  "  canes, 
Vv'ith  tassels  ;  and  *'  Pickwick  "  coats,  with  brass  and 
horn  buttons,  and  the  cloth  invariably  dark  green 
or  dark  plum.  The  name  "  Pickwick "  is  said  to 
have  been  taken  from  the  hamlet  or  cluster  of  houses 
which  formed  the  last  restlnc-stafire  for  coaches  froing: 
to  Bath,*  which  town,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  the 
scene  of  Sam  Wellcr's  chaffing  of  "  Blazes,"  the  red- 
breeched  footman. 

But  to  return  to  the  work  as  a  literary  composition. 
"  The  Pickwick  Papers "  stands  alone  from  all 
Dickens's  works.  Like  *'  Robinson  Crusoe,"  "  Tom 
Jones,"  "  Gulliver,"  "'  Rabelais,"  ''  Tristram  Shandy," 

*  "Pickwick  (97  m.). — A  degree  of  importance  is  attached 
to  this  small  place,  from  its  contiguity  to  Corsham  House  (i  m.), 
the  celebrated  seat  of  Paul  Cobb  Methuen,  Esq.,  whose  superb 
collection  of  paintings  are  the  theme  and  admiration  of  every 
visitor.  On  the  ri?ht  of  Pickwick  stands  Hartham  Park,  the 
seat  of  —  Jay,  Esq.,  and  Pickwick  Lodge,  belonging  to  Caleb 
Dickenson,  Esq."—'*  Walks  Through  Bath."  By  Pierce  Egan^ 
1819. 


1836.]    POPULARITY  OF   THE   ''  PICKWICK  PAPERS."       61 

*'■  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield,"  and  half  a  score  more,  it 
Avill  never  die  out  or  be  forgotten.  It  is  crammed 
with  rollicking  fun  and  drollery.  You  may  read  it 
fifty  times  and  never  tire  of  it.  Open  it  at  whatever 
page  you  will,  the  charm  is  such  that  one  cannot  put 
it  down  without  feeling  thoroughly  amused  and  de- 
lighted. We  may  remark  that  the  well-known  song, 
*'The  Ivy  Green,"  which  William  Henry  Russell  used 
to  sing  with  such  eclat,  five-and-twenty  years  since, 
first  appeared  in  *'  Pickwick."  It  is  the  only  poetry 
contained  in  any  of  Dickens's  novels.  Judging  from 
its  merits,  the  author  would  doubtlessly  have  taken 
a  very  fair  stand  as  a  poet.  In  "Shy  Neighbourhoods '' 
("Uncommercial  Traveller"),  speaking  of  walking 
one  night  half-asleep,  dozing  heavily,  and  slumbering 
continually,  he  observes,  "  I  made  immense  quan- 
tities of  verses  on  that  pedestrian  occasion  (of  course 
I  never  make  any  when  I  am  in  my  right  senses)." 

Concerning  the  inimitable  "  Pickwick,"  Blackwood^ 
many  years  since,  in  an  article  entitled  "  A  Remon- 
strance wdth  Dickens,"  thus  bears  testimony  :  "  As 
to  what  the  best  bits  are,  only  he  who  brings  a  virgin 
palate  is,  perhaps,  qualified  to  discriminate,  of  so 
rich  materials  is  the  whole  compounded  ;  and  to  this 
day  we  are  lost  in  admiration  of  the  wealth  of  humour 
which  could  go  on,  page  after  page,  chapter  after 
chapter,  month  after  month,  to  the  close  of  a  long 
work,  pouring  forth,  from  a  source  seemingly  inex- 
haustible, fun,  and  incident,  and  description,  and 
character,  ever  fresh,  vivid,  and  new,  which,  if  distri- 


62  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1836. 

buted  with  a  thrifty  hand,  would  have  sei-ved  to 
relieve  and  enliven,  perhaps  immortalize,  twenty- 
sober  romances.  The  very  plan  of  the  work  (if  plan 
it  can  be  called  where  plan  seems  none)  evinces  the 
writer's  extraordinary  confidence  in  his  resources, 
where  a  knot  of  individuals,  connected  with  the 
loosest  tie,  and  interesting  only  from  their  unconscious 
drollery,  are  cast  loose  upon  the  world  to  wander 
through  scenes  of  every-day  life,  in  which,  though 
constantly  getting  more  absurd  and  weak,  they  yet 
gain  a  firm  hold  on  the  reader's  affection  ;  so  that  at 
length  we  take  leave  of  Mr.  Pickwick,  in  his  rural 
retirement  at  Dulwich,  with  a  lingering  fondness, 
such  as  we  have  never  felt  for  any  of  those  young 
and  handsome  miracles  of  sense  and  spirit  upon 
whose  heroic  career  the  vicissitudes  of  three  thrilling 
volumes  are  suspended.  *  *  But  so  much  geniality 
of  all  kinds  is  displayed  in  the  book,  that  probably 
no  appreciative  reader  ever  rose  from  its  perusal 
without  a  strong  feeling  of  personal  regard  for  the 
author — an  element  generally  omitted  in  the  estimate 
of  a  writer's  genius,  to  which  we  always  attach  great 
importance." 

A  writer,  whose  name  we  have  forgotten,  remarked 
that  "  Pickwick "  was  made  up  of  *'  two  pounds  of 
Smollett,  three  ounces  of  Sterne,  a  handful  of  Hook, 
a  dash  of  the  grammatical  Pierce  Egan — incidents 
at  pleasure,  served  with  an  original  sauce  piquanter 
And  Lady  Chatterton,  in  one  of  her  works,  re- 
marked ; — "■  Mr.    Davy,   who    accompanied    Colonel 


1836.]    POPULARITY  OF   THE   "  PICKWICK  PAPERS."       63 

Chesney  up  the  Euphrates,  has  recently  been  in  the 
service  of  Mahomet  Ali  Pacha.  '  Pickwick  '  hap|)en- 
ing  to  reach  Davy  while  he  was  at  Damascus,  he 
read  a  part  of  it  to  the  Pacha,  who  was  so  delighted 
with  it,  that  Davy  was  on  one  occasion  summoned 
to  him  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  to  finish  the 
reading  of  some  part  in  which  they  had  been  in- 
terrupted. Mr.  Davy  read  in  Egypt,  upon  another 
occasion,  some  passages  from  these  unrivalled  papers 
to  a  blind  Englishman,  who  was  in  such  ecstasy  with 
what  he  had  heard,  that  he  exclaimed  he  was  almost 
thankful  he  could  not  see  he  was  in  a  foreign  country, 
for  that,  while  he  listened,  he  felt  completely  as  though 
he  were  again  in  England." 

"Pickwick  "  was  attacked  In  the  Qitartcrly  Review, 
which  declared  that  "  indications  are  not  wanting 
that  the  peculiar  vein  of  humour  which  has  hitherto 
yielded  such  attractive  metal  is  worn  out  ;"  but  the. 
rancorous  article  did  not  change  public  opinion,  and 
the  work  continued  just  as  popular  as  ever. 

James  Smith  (one  of  the  authors  of  "The  Rejected 
Addresses"),  according  to  the  Law  Magazine,  one 
day  made  the  bold  assertion,  that  Jie  clearly  preceded 
Mr.  Dickens  in  the  line  which  first  acquired  "  The 
Pickwick  Papers  "  their  popularity. 

Sydney  Smith  had  two  tests  for  the  goodness  of  a 
novel :   "  Does  It  make  you  deaf  to  the  dinner-bell  V 

"  While  reading  it,  do  you  forget  to  answer,  even  if 
a  bishop  should  speak  to  you  .''" 

Moncrlefif,  the  famous  author  of  "  Tom  and  Jerry," 


64  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1836. 

and  a  hundred  farces  and  light  comedies,  dramatized 
"  Pickwick  "  long  before  it  was  finished,  for  the  Strand 
Theatre,  where  it  was  performed  under  the  title  of — 

^^  Sam  Weller ;  or,  The  Pickzvickians ;" 
Mr,  W.  J.  Hammond  sustaining  the  character  of  Sam 
Weller.  The  termination  of  the  drama  was  very 
different  to  that  given  in  the  book  itself,  as  will  be 
readily  seen.  The  adapter  caused  Mrs.  Bardell  to  be 
tried  and  found  guilty  of  attempted  bigamy,  her 
husband  being  Alfred  Jingle.  Messrs.  Dodson  and 
Fogg,  the  PVeeman  Court  sharks,  were  sent  to 
Newgate  for  conspiracy,  and  only  released  upon 
payment  of  the  sum  of  ;^300  or  thereabouts,  which 
Mr.  Pickwick,  on  receiving,  very  generously  handed 
to  Jingle  to  start  afresh  in  the  world  ;  the  curtain 
falling  with  a  herald  entering  and  announcing  the 
accession  of  Queen  Victoria,  which  occurred  about 
this  time  ! 

Another  version  was  acted,  with  indifferent  success, 
at  the  Adelphi,  Yates  representing  Mr.  Pickwick,  and 
John  Reeve,  Sam  Weller.  In  February,  1838,  Mr. 
G.  W.  M.  Reynolds  started  a  monthly  "  Pickwick 
Abroad  ;  or,  A  Tour  in  France,"  illustrated  by  Alfred 
Crowquill.  As  a  curiosity,  it  deserves  to  be  read,  if 
only  to  see  the  immense  difference  existing  between 
/-        the  two  books. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

DICKENS  AS  A  DRAMATIST. — ''OLIVER  TWIST." 


^T  was  in  the  year  1836  that  Mr.  Thackeray, 
according  to  an  anecdote  related  by  himself, 
offered  Mr.  Dickens  to  undertake  the  task  of 
illustrating  one  of  his  works.  The  story  was  told  by  the 
former  at  an  anniversary  dinner  of  the  Royal  Academy 
a  few  years  since,  ]\Ir.  Dickens  being  present  on  the  oc- 
casion. "  I  can  remember  (said  Mr.  Thackeray)  when 
Mr.  Dickens  was  a  very  young  man,  and  had  com- 
menced delighting  the  world  with  some  charming 
humorous  works  in  covers,  which  were  coloured  light 
green,  and  came  out  once  a  month,  that  this  young 
man  wanted  an  artist  to  illustrate  his  writings  ;  and  I 
recollect  walking  up  to  his  chambers  in  Furnival's  Inn, 
with  two  or  three  drawings  in  my  hand,  which,  strange 
to  say,  he  did  not  find  suitable.  But  for  the  unfortunate 
blight  which  came  over  my  artistical  existence,  it 
would  have  been  my  pride  and  my  pleasure  to  have 
endeavoured  one  day  to  find  a  place  on  these  walls 
for  one  of  my  performances."  The  work  referred  to 
was  the  "  Pickwick  Papers."  Seymour,  the  illustrator, 
having  destroyed  himself  in  a  fit  of  derangement,  a 
new  artist  was  wanted,  and  the  result  was  the  singular 

E 


6$  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1838. 

intei-view  between  the  two  men  whose  names,  though 
representing  schools  of  fiction  so  widely  different, 
were  destined  to  become  constantly  associated  in  the 
public  mind. 

A  leading  article  in  a  morning  newspaper  on  the 
occasion  of  Mr.  Thackeray's  death,  in  telling  the 
anecdote  of  his  attempt  to  illustrate  "  Pickwick," 
adds,  that  disappointed  at  the  rejection  of  his  offer, 
he  exclaimed,  "  Well,  if  you  will  not  let  me  draw,  I 
will  write;"  and  from  that  hour  determined  to  com- 
pete with  his  illustrious  brother  novelist  for  public 
favour.  Nothing  could  be  more  opposed  to  the  facts 
than  this  coloured  version  of  the  anecdote.  It  was 
not  for  a  year  or  two  after  the  event  referred  to  that 
he  began  seriously  to  devote  himself  to  literary 
labour  ;  and  his  articles,  published  anonymously,  and 
only  now  for  the  first  time  brought  into  notice, 
because  recognized  from  their  noins  de  plume  to  have 
been  written  by  him,  contain  the  best  evidences  that 
he  felt  no  shadow  of  ill-will  for  a  rejection  which  he 
always  good-humouredly  alluded  to  as  "  Mr.  Pick- 
wick's lucky  escape  !"* 

The  artists  eventually  engaged  to  take  Seymour's 
place  were,  first  Mr.  Buss,  and  then  Mr.  Hablot 
Knight  Browne,  who  had,  in  woodcut,  illustrated  a 
small  pamphlet  by  Mr.  Charles  Dickens,  now  out  of 
print  and  extremely  scarce,  on  the  subject  of  the 
Sabbath  in  London,  and  bearing  the  title  of  "  Sunday 
under  three  Heads."     As  is  well  known,  the  same 

*  Theodore  Taylor's  "Life  of  Thackeray,"  p.  6^,, 


SUNDAY 


UNDER    THREE    Hi:  ADS. 


AS    IT    IS 


AS    SABBATH     BILLS    WOULD     MAKE     IT 


AS    IT    MIGHT    BE    MADE. 


BY    TIMOTHY    SPARKS. 


LONDON : 
CHAPMAN    AND    HALL,    186,    STRAND. 


1838.]  DICKENS  AS  A  DRAMATIST  Sj 

artist,  under  the  quaint  signature  of  "  Phiz," 
apparently  intended  to  match  the  author's  own 
noin  dc phnne,  "Boz,"  continued  to  etch  the  plates  for 
Mr.  Dickens's  monthly  numbers  for  many  years 
afterwards.  Poor  Tom  Hood  used  to  stumble  at  the 
name  :  "  Fizz,  Whizz,  or  something  of  that  sort,"  he 
would  say. 

During  the  publication  of  "  The  Pickwick  Papers  " 
St.  James's  Theatre  was  opened,  Sept.  29th,  1836,  with 
a  burletta  entitled  ''  The  Strange  Gentleman,"  written 
by  "  Boz ;"  Pritt  Harley  acted  the  Strange  Gentle- 
man, and  *'  Boz,"  himself,  on  one  occasion  took  a  part. 
The  piece  ran  until  December,  when  it  was  withdrawn 
for  an  operatic  burletta,  "  The  Village  Coquettes,"  by 
the  same  author,  the  music  by  John  Hullah.  The 
parts  were  sustained  by  Messrs.  Harley  (as  Martin 
Stokes),  Braham  (as  Squire  Norton),  Bennett  (as 
George  Edmunds),  and  John  Parry;  Mesdames  Smith, 
Rainsforth  (as  Lucy  Benson),  and  others.  It  met 
with  a  marked  reception,  and  Braham,  for  a  long 
time  after,  at  different  concerts,  sang  "  The  Child  and 
the  Old  Man  sat  alone;"  invariably  getting  encored 
most  enthusiastically.  Three  other  songs  in  the 
burletta  were  great  favourites,  viz.,  ''  Love  is  not 
a  Feeling  to  pass  away,"  "Autumn  Leaves,"  and 
"  There 's  a  Charm  in  Spring."  The  book  of  the 
words  was  published  by  Mr.  Bentley,  and  dedicated 
to  J.  Pritt  Harley  in  the  following  terms  : — 

'^  My  dramatic  bantlings  are  no  sooner  born  than 
you    father    them.     You    have    made    my    Strange 

E  2 


68  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1838. 

Gentleman  exclusively  your  own  ;  you  have  adopted 
Martin  Stokes  with  equal  readiness." 

The  author,  "  Boz,"  excuses  himself  for  appearing 
before  the  public  as  the  composer  of  an  operatic 
burletta  in  the  following  words  : — 

"  *  Either  the  Honourable  Gentleman  is  in  the 
right,  or  he  is  not,'  is  a  phrase  in  very  common  use 
within  the  walls  of  Parliament.  This  drama  may 
have  a  plot,  or  it  may  not ;  and  the  songs  may  be 
poetry,  or  they  may  not ;  and  the  whole  affair,  from 
beginning  to  end,  may  be  great  nonsense,  or  it  may 
not ;  just  as  the  honourable  gentleman  or  lady  who 
reads  it  may  happen  to  think.  So,  retaining  his  own 
private  and  particular  opinion  upon  the  subject  (an 
opinion  which  he  formed  upwards  of  a  year  ago, 
when  he  wrote  the  piece),  the  author  leaves  every 
gentleman  or  lady  to  form  his  or  hers,  as  he  or  she 
may  think  proper,  without  saying  one  word  to  influ- 
ence or  conciliate  them. 

"  All  he  wishes  to  say  is  this, — that  he  hopes  Mr. 
Braham,  and  all  the  performers  who  assisted  in  the 
representation  of  this  opera,  will  accept  his  warmest 
thanks  for  the  interest  they  evinced  in  it  from  its 
very  first  rehearsal,  and  for  their  zealous  efforts  in  his 
behalf — efforts  which  have  crowned  it  with  a  degree 
of  success  far  exceeding  his  most  sanguine  anticipa- 
tions ;  and  of  which  no  form  of  words  could  speak 
his  acknowledgment. 

"  It  is  needless  to  add,  that  the  libretto  of  an  opera 
must  be,  to  a  certain  extent,  a  mere  vehicle  for  the 


THE    HOME     OF    CHARLES    DICKENS, 
1837— 1840. 


No.  48  DOUGHTY  ST.,  MECKLENBURGH  SQUARE. 

When  Mr.  Dickens  married,  he  removed  from  Furnival's  Inn  to  this  house. 
Here  were  written  the  concluding  numbers  of  "Pickwick,"  "  OUver  Twist,"  and 
"  Nicholas  Nickleby." 


1838.1  ''OLIVER   TWIST."  69 

music ;  and  that  it  is  scarcely  fair  or  reasonable  to 
judge  it  by  those  strict  rules  of  criticism  which  would 
be  justly  applicable  to  a  five-act  tragedy,  or  a  finished 
comedy." 

About  this  time  (in  1837,  we  believe),  Mr.  Dickens 
married  Miss  Catherine  Hogarth,  a  daughter  of  Mr. 
George  Hogarth,  musical  and  dramatic  critic  of  the 
Morning  Chronicle,  author  of  "  Memoirs  of  the  Musi- 
cal Drama,"  and  formerly  a  Writer  to  the  Signet  in 
Scotland.  Dickens  now  left  his  old  chambers  in 
Furnival's  Inn,  and  took  the  house.  No.  48,  Doughty 
Street,  Mecklenburgh  Square.  Soon  after  he  was 
installed  editor  of  Bcnthys  Miscellany,  and  he 
began  therein  "  Oliver  Twist,"  subsequently  pub- 
lished in  a  complete  form  by  Mr.  Bentley  in 
November,  1838,  illustrated  by  some  of  the  finest 
etchings  that  ever  sprang  from  the  magic  needle  of 
George  Cruikshank.  Any  criticism  upon  the  work 
at  this  time  is  at  least  needless,  if  not  impertinent ; 
but  we  may  be  forgiven  in  saying  that  the  work 
abounds  in  touches  of  surpassing  pathos,  picturesque 
description,  and  dramatic  effect,  while  the  sombre 
parts  are  relieved  by  a  rich  vein  of  irresistible 
humour.  The  death  of  Bill  Sykes,  after  the  bar- 
barous murder  of  poor  Nancy,  is  one  of  the  most 
thrilling  and  effective  chapters  in  the  book.  Bum- 
ble the  Beadle  has  attained  a  world-wide  reputation. 
The  scene  of  his  courtship  with  Mrs.  Corney — first 
prudently  ascertaining  the  value  of  the  spoons,  &c. — 
is,  perhaps,  the  best  "  bit "  of  all. 


70  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1838. 

In  proof  of  Dickens's  accuracy  in  all  matters  of 
detail,  an  eminent  medical  authority  assures  us  that 
his  description  of  hectic,  given  in  "  Oliver  Twist,"  has 
found  its  way  into  more  than  one  standard  English 
work,  in  both  medicine  and  surgery,*  also  into  several 
American  and  French  books  of  medicine. 

The  preface  to  "The  Charles  Dickens  Edition" 
(1867)  speaks  of  Alderman  Laurie  having  called  in 
question  the  existence  of  such  a  place  as  Jacob's 
Island,  and  declares  that,  even  then,  in  1867,  it  may 
be  seen  in  almost  the  same  squalid  and  filthy  state 
as  it  was  when  first  described.  "  Oliver  Twist  "  was 
directed  with  great  effect  against  the  Poor-law  and 
workhouse  system.  It  will  be  remembered,  by  many, 
that  a  great  outcry  was  raised  at  the  time  of  its 
original  publication,  and  statements  respecting  its 
*'  gross  untruth  "  and  "  distorted  facts "  were  freely 
made.  Can  any  one,  reading  the  shocking  and  dis- 
graceful disclosures  made  during  the  last  three  or 
four  years,  still  maintain  that  erroneous  opinion  } 

A  meeting  was  held  at  Willis's  Rooms,  on  3rd 
March,  1866,  to  promote  the  establishment  of  an 
Association  for  the  Improvement  of  the  Infirmaries 
of  the  London  Workhouses.  Mr.  Ernest  Hart,  the 
Secretary,  had  invited  Dickens  to  attend  the  meet- 
ing, and  take  part  in  the  proceedings.  In  his  reply, 
the  author  of  "  Oliver  Twist "  said  : — 

*  Miller's  "  Principles  of  Surgery,"  second  edition,  p.  46  ; 
also  Dr.  Aitkin's  "  Practice  of  Medicine,"  third  edition,  vol.  i. 
p.  III. 


1838.]  ''OLIVER   TWIST."  jt 

"  An  annual  engagement  which  I  cannot  possibly 
forego  will  prevent  my  attending  next  Saturday's 
meeting  and  (consequently)  my  seconding  the  resolu- 
tion proposed  to  be  entrusted  to  me  for  that  purpose. 
My  knowledge  of  the  general  condition  of  sick  poor 
in  workhouses  is  not  of  yesterday,  nor  are  my  efforts 
in  my  vocation  to  call  merciful  attention  to  it.  Few 
anomalies  in  England  are  so  horrible  to  me  as  the 
unchecked  existence  of  many  shameful  sick  wards 
for  paupers  side  by  side  with  the  constantly  increas- 
ing expansion  of  conventional  wonder  that  the  poor 
should  creep  into  corners  ^and  die  rather  than  fester 
and  rot  in  those  infamous  places. 

"  You  know  what  they  are,  and  have  manfully  told 
what  they  are,  to  the  awakening  at  last,  it  would 
seem,  of  rather  more  than  the  seven  distinguished 
sleepers.  If  any  subscriptions  should  be  opened  to 
advance  the  objects  of  our  association,  do  me  the 
kindness  to  set  me  down  for  ;^ 20." 

Mr.  Sheldon  McKenzie,  in  the  American  Round 
Table,  relates  this  anecdote  of  "  Oliver  Twist  "  : — 

^'In  London  I  was  intimate  with  the  brothers 
Cruikshank,  Robert  and  George,  but  more  particu- 
larly with  the  latter.  Having  called  upon  him  one 
day  at  his  house  (it  then  was  in  Mydleton  Terrace, 
Pentonville),  I  had  to  wait  while  he  was  finishing  an 
etching,  for  which  a  printer's  boy  was  waiting.  To  \ 
while  away  the  time,  I  gladly  complied  with  his  ! 
suggestion  that  I  should  look  over  a  portfolio 
crowded  with  etchings,  proofs,  and  drawings,  which. 


72  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1838. 

lay  upon  the  sofa.  Among  these,  carelessly  tied 
together  in  a  wrap  of  brown  paper,  was  a  series  of 
some  twenty-five  or  thirty  drawings,  very  carefully 
finished,  through  most  of  which  were  carried  the 
well-known  portraits  of  Fagin,  Bill  Sykes  and  his 
dog,  Nancy,  the  Artful  Dodger,  and  Master  Charles 
Bates— all  well  known  to  the  readers  of  '  Oliver 
Twist.'  There  was  no  mistake  about  it ;  and  when 
Cruikshank  turned  round,  his  work  finished,  I  said  as 
much.  He  told  me  that  it  had  long  been  in  his 
mind  to  show  the  life  of  a  London  thief  by  a  series 
of  drawings  engraved  by  himself,  in  which,  without 
a  single  line  of  letter-press,  the  story  would  be 
strikingly  and  clearly  told.  *  Dickens,'  he  continued, 
*  dropped  in  here  one  day,  just  as  you  have  done, 
and,  while  waiting  until  I  could  speak  with  him,  took 
up  that  identical  portfolio,  and  ferreted  out  that 
bundle  of  drawings.  When  he  came  to  that  one 
which  represents  Fagin  in  the  condemned  cell,  he 
studied  it  for  half  an  hour,  and  told  me  that  he  was 
tempted  to  change  the  whole  plot  of  his  story  ;  not 
to  carry  Oliver  Twist  through  adventures  in  the 
country,  but  to  take  him  up  into  the  thieves'  den  in 
London,  show  what  their  life  was,  and  bring  Oliver 
through  it  without  sin  or  shame.  I  consented  to  let 
him  write  up  to  as  many  of  the  designs  as  he  thought 
would  suit  his  purpose  ;  and  that  was  the  way  in 
which  Fagin,  Sykes,  and  Nancy  were  created.  My 
drawings  suggested  them,  rather  than  individuality 
suggesting  my  drawings." 


/^  IJ       K  ^-w,r>^  C. 


iSa^.]  *' OLIVER    TWIST."  75 

How  the  remarkable  figure  of  Fagin  was  first  con- 
ceived Mr.  H odder  tells  us.  The  reader  will  remem- 
ber the  picture  of  the  Jew  malefactor  in  the  con- 
demned cell,  biting  his  nails  in  the  torture  of  remorse. 
Cruikshank  had  been  labouring  at  the  subject  for 
several  days,  and  thought  the  task  hopeless,  when 
sitting  up  in  his  bed  one  morning,  with  his  hand  on 
his  chin,  and  his  fingers  in  his  mouth,  the  whole 
attitude  expressive  of  despair,  he  saw  his  face  in  the 
cheval  glass. 

*'  That 's  it !  "  he  exclaimed,  "  that 's  the  expression 
I  want !  "  and  he  soon  finished  the  picture.     : 

Thackeray,  in  "  The  Newcomes,"  remarked  that 
"  a  profane  work,  called  *  Oliver  Twist,'  having 
appeared,  which  George  read  out  to  his  family 
with  admirable  emphasis,  it  is  a  fact  that  Lady 
Walham  became  so  interested  in  the  parish-boy's 
progress,  that  she  took  his  history  into  her  bed-room 
(where  it  was  discovered,  under  Blatherwick's  '  Voice 
from  Mesopotamia,'  by  her  ladyship's  maid) ;  and 
that  Kew  laughed  so  immensely  at  Mr.  Bumble,  the 
Beadle,  as  to  endanger  the  re-opening  of  his  wound." 

And  again,  in  Frasers  Magazhie  for  Feb.,  1840, 
at  the  end  of  a  clever  satire  upon  the  Newgate 
Calendar  school  of  romance,  purporting  to  be  written 
by  Ikey  Solomons,  jun.,  Thackeray  thus  remarks 
upon  ''  Oliver  Twist :  " — "  No  man  has  read  that 
remarkable  tale  without  being  interested  in  poor 
Nancy  and  her  murderer,  and  especially  amused  and 
tickled  by  the  gambols  of  the  skilful  Dodger  and  his 


p-a'^^/ti^    kl^'V.^HyM^  • 


11 


74  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1838. 

companions.  The  power  of  the  writer  is  so  amazing, 
that  the  reader  at  once  becomes  his  captive,  and  must 
follow  him  whithersoever  he  leads  :  and  to  what  are  we 
led?  Breathless  to  watch  all  the  crimes  of  Fagin, 
tenderly  to  deplore  the  errors  of  Nancy,  to  have  for 
Bill  Sykes  a  kind  of  pity  and  admiration,  and  an 
absolute  love  for  the  society  of  the  Dodger.  All 
these  heroes  stepped  from  the  novel  on  to  the  stage ; 
and  the  whole  London  public,  from  peers  to  chimney- 
sweeps, were  interested  about  a  set  of  ruffians  whose 
occupations  are  thievery,  murder,  and  prostitution. 
A  most  agreeable  set  of  rascals,  indeed,  who  have 
their  virtues,  too,  but  not  good  company  for  any  man. 
We  had  better  pass  them  by  in  decent  silence  ;  for, 
as  no  writer  can  or  dare  tell  the  whole  truth  concern- 
ing them,  and  faithfully  explain  their  vices,  there  is 
no  need  to  give  ex  parte  statements  of  their  virtues. 

.  The  pathos  of  the  work- 
house scenes  in  *  Oliver  Twist,'  of  the  Fleet  Prison 
descriptions  in  '  Pickwick,'  is  genuine  and  pure — as 
much  of  this  as  you  please  ;  as  tender  a  hand  to  the 
poor,  as  kindly  a  word  to  the  unhappy  as  you  will,, 
but  in  the  name  of  common  sense  let  us  not  expend 
our  sympathies  on  cut-throats  and  other  such  pro- 
digies of  evil !" 

Albert  Smith,  in  his  "  Adventures  of  Mr.  Ledbury," 
observed  that,  "  in  the  year  1840,  he  found  an  Italian 
translator  of  the  book  had  placarded  the  name  of  the 
poor  parish  orphan  of  England  against  the  walls  of 
the  Ducal  Palace  of  Venice  ! " 


1838.]  "  OLIVER    TWIST."  75 

In  May,  1838,  an  adaptation  of  the  story  was  pro- 
duced at  the  PavIHon  Theatre,  and  at  the  Surrey  on 
November  19th  following,  and  met  with  great  success. 
The  representations  of  "  Oliver  Twist "  and  **  Jack 
Sheppard,"  being  considered  as  entailing  great  mis- 
chief, were  accordingly  prohibited  ;  but  Mr.  John 
Oxenford's  version  (specially  licensed),  in  three  acts, 
was  produced  at  the  New  Queen's  Theatre,  in  April, 
1868,  and  attracted  large  audiences,  Mr.  J.  L.  Toole 
playing  the  Artful  Dodger,  and  Miss  Nelly  Moore, 
Nancy.  It  was  this  version  that  became  the  subject 
of  a  Parliamentary  discussion  : — 

Dr.  B7'ady  asked  the  Secretary  of  State  whether 
the  Lord  Chamberlain  had  refused  to  license  a  play 
dramatized  by  Mr.  Oxenford  from  Mr.  Dickens's 
celebrated  work  of  "  Oliver  Twist ;  "  and  whether  all 
plays  from  the  same  work  were  interdicted  in  London 
as  being  offensive  to  parish  beadles  ;  and  whether  he 
approved  of  the  Lord  Chamberlain's  consideration 
for  the  feelings  of  the  parish  authorities. 

Mr.  Hardy :  The  parish  beadles  have  not  the 
influence  with  the  Lord  Chamberlain  which  the  Hon. 
Member  supposes.  Formerly,  "  Oliver  Tv/ist "  and 
"Jack  Sheppard"  were  prohibited, but  Mr.  Oxenford's 
play  has  been  licensed  by  the  Lord  Chamberlain. 

Representations  also  took  place  at  the  Surrey, 
Victoria,  Pavilion,  and  other  theatres. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE  COPYRIGHT  OF  "OLIVER  TWIST." 

ERE  we  come  to  a  matter  connected  with 
U  the  transfer  of  the  copyright  of  ''  OHver 
'4     Twist  "  back  into  Mr.  Dickens's  own  posses- 


sion, Avhich,  many  years  later,  occasioned  a  contro- 
versy in  the  public  papers.  Mr.  Jerdan,  the  once 
famous  editor  of  the  Literary  Gazette^  in  his  ram- 
bling autobiography,  published  in  1853,  mentions 
(vol.  iv.)  that — "  Bulwer,  I  believe,  paid  Mr.  Bentley 
^^750  to  recover  a  small  portion  of  copyright  which 
he  wished,  in  order  to  possess  an  entire  property  in 
his  works  ;  and,  nearly  at  the  same  time,  Mr.  Dickens 
took  a  like  step  to  repurchase  a  share  of  the  copy- 
right of  '  Oliver  Twist,'  after  it  had  launched  Bentley' s 
Miscellany  prosperously  on  the  popular  tide,  and 
gone  through  two  or  three  profitable  editions.  The 
compensation  was  referred  to  Mr.  John  Eorster  and 
myself,  and  upon  my  table  the  sum  of  ;^ 2,250  was 
handed  over  to  Mr.  Bentley,  and  both  parties  per- 
fectly satisfied.  But  was  not  'the  trade'  fortunate  in 
so  easily  adding  to  handsome  preceding  emoluments 
the  total  of  no  less  than  ;^ 3,000  ?" 

Mr.  Bentley,  in  a  letter  to  TJie  Critic  (now  defunct, 


1838.]  COPYRIGHT   OF  ''OLIVER    TWIST."  77 

which  had  reviewed  the  book,  and  quoted  the  above 
paragraph),  repHed  : — 

"Mr.  Jerdan's  Autobiography. 

"  Sir, — In  your  last  number,  while  reviewing  the 
concluding  volume  of  Mr.  Jerdan's  Autobiography, 
you  quote  a  statement  made  by  him  relative  to  two 
transactions — one  with  Sir  Edward  Bulwer  Lytton, 
and  the  other  with  Mr.  Charles  Dickens  and  myself — 
which,  if  left  uncontradicted,  is  calculated  to  be  in- 
jurious to  me.  This  statement,  I  distinctly  assert, 
is  grossly  incorrect ;  and  I  have  thought  it  necessary 
to  call  upon  Mr.  Jerdan  to  cancel  it  altogether. 

"  I  greatly  regret,  for  Mr.  Jerdan's  sake,  as  well  as 
the  parties  referred  to,  that  he  should  have  ventured 
to  commit  such  an  indiscretion. 

'^  Yours  faithfully, 

"  Richard  Bentley. 
"  Nezv  Burlington  Strcety 
"  Jan.  12,  1854." 

To  which  Jerdan  in  turn  wrote  : — 

"  Mr.  Bentley  and  Mr.  Jerdan. 

"To  the  Editor  of   TJie  Critic,  London  Literary 

Journal. 

"  Sir, —  Having  admitted  a  letter  from  Mr.  Bentley 
to  your  columns,  impugning  a  statement  you  did  me 
the  honour  to  quote  in  your  notice  of  the  fourth 
volume  of  my  Autobiography,  I  beg  your  permission 


78  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS,  [1838. 

to  insert  the  following  observations  on  the  com- 
plaint: — 

''  If  I  could  have  supposed,  for  an  instant,  that  the 
facts  related  were  calculated  to  do  Mr.  Bentley  the 
slightest  injury,  I  never  would  have  published  them  ; 
but,  on  the  most  earnest  consideration  of  the  matter, 
I  must  say  that  such  an  idea  is  perfectly  incompre- 
hensible. 

"  In  the  one  instance,  I  mention  a  report  that  Sir 
Edward  Lytton  Bulwer  had  paid  a  certain  sum  to 
Mr.  Bentley,  for  the  restoration  of  a  particular  copy- 
right ;  and,  in  the  other,  I  state  from  my  own  know- 
ledge the  circumstance  of  Mr.  Dickens  having  paid  a 
larger  sum  for  a  sim^ilar  reassignment. 

"  Now,  I  would  ask,  to  what  does  this  amount } 
It  may  go  to  prove  the  truism,  that  publishers  are 
more  likely  than  authors  to  keep  their  coaches  ;  but 
all  the  rest  simply  amounts  to  the  commonest  com- 
mercial arrangement,  viz.,  that  Sir  Edward  Bulwer 
Lytton  and  Mr.  Dickens  paid  Mr.  Bentley  a  fair  price 
for  what  they  desired  to  purchase,  and  which  he  had 
no  higher  or  more  profitable  object  in  wishing  to  retain. 
In  the  more  important  case  I  was  his  own  arbiter, 
and  surely  I  would  not  accuse  myself  of  having  been 
a  party  to  a  transaction  injurious  to  my  principal  or 
to  Mr.  Dickens,  by  sanctioning  a  disreputable  arbi- 
tration, of  which  I  may  add,  that  it  had  the  rare 
good  fortune  at  the  time  to  be  perfectly  satisfactory 
to  all  concerned. 

"  As  for  any  breach  of  confidence,  you,  sir,  are  far 


1838.]  COPYRIGHT  OF  "  OLIVER    TWIST."  79 

too  conversant  with  the  literary  world   to  suppose 

that   these   matters  were   not   the  common  talk   of 

every   circle   in   London,   and   that   the  attempt  to 

represent  them  as  secrets  is  very  preposterous. 

*'  I  am  indeed  sorry  that  Mr.  Bentley's  feelings  or 

amour  propi'e  have  been  disturbed  ;  but  I   am  sure 

that  few  persons,  except  himself,  will  think  that   I 

have  cast  a  blot  on  his  publishing  'scutcheon. 

"  I  am,  Sir, 

"  Yours  obediently, 

"W.  JERDAN. 
^^  January  2^thr 

Another  letter  from  Mr.  Bentley  closed  the  con- 
troversy : — 

"  To  the  Editor  of  TJie  Critic. 

*'  New  Burlington  Street, 
''Feb.  13,  1854. 
"  Sir, — You  will  oblige  me  by  giving  insertion  in 
your  journal  to  the  accompanying  letter  from  Mr. 
Forster,    which   has   been    handsomely   sent   to  me 
without  any  solicitation  on  my  part. 

"  Yours  faithfully, 

"  Richard  Bentley." 

[Copy  enclosed.] 

''58,  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields, 
"Jan.  31,  1854. 
"  Dear  Sir, — I  perceive  that  the  Morning  Herald 


£o  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  B/CA'ENS.  [1S38. 

which  I  have  just  received  comes  from  you,  and 
I  cannot  doubt  that  it  is  sent  to  me  because  it  contains 
a  correspondence  between  yourself  and  Mr.  Jerdan, 
in  reference  to  a  statement  on  the  part  of  the  latter, 
in  which  my  name  is  introduced. 

"  I  feel  it  right,  in  confirmation  of  your  opinion, 
expressed  in  that  correspondence,  to  state  to  you  my 
own  opinion,  that  the  negotiation  was  undoubtedly 
of  a  private  nature,  and  one  with  which  the  public 
have  no  concern. 

"Further,  there  were  matters  in  dispute  between 
yourself  and  Mr.  Dickens,  the  fair  adjustment  of 
\vhich  was  taken  into  account  when  the  sum  of 
;^2,250  was  fixed  upon  as  the  price  at  which  he 
should  purchase  back  from  you  the  copyright  of 
*  Oliver  Twist' 

"This    matter   having   been   brought   before    the 

public  without  any  fault  of  yours,  it  is  just  towards 

you  that  I  should  write  these  few  words  ;  and  I  do 

so  with  the  knowledge  and  consent  of   Mr.  Dickens 

himself. 

"  Yours  very  truly, 

"John  Forster. 

«  R.  Bentley,  Esq." 

"  Oliver  Twist "  completed,  Dickens  resigned  the 

editorship  to   Mr.  W.  Harrison  Ainsworth,  who,  we 

believe,  still  occupies  that  position.     Just  before  the 

last  instalment  was   published,   there   appeared   in 

Befitleys  Miscellany  this  : — 


1833.]  COPYRIGHT  OF  ''OLIVER   TWIST."  Zt 

"POETICAL  EPISTLE  FROM  FATHER   PROUT 

TO   BOZ. 
I. 

"A  RHYME  !  a  rliyme  !  from  a  distant  clime, — from  thegulph  of 

the  Genoese: 
O'er  the  rugged  scalps  of  the  Julian  Alps,  dear  Boz !  I  send  you 

these. 
To  light  the  Wick  your  candlestick  holds  up,  or,  should  you 

list. 
To  usher  in  the  yarn  you  spin  concerning  Oliver  Twist. 

n. 

"  Immense  applause  you  Ve  gained,  oh,  Boz  !  through  continental 

Europe ; 
You'll  make  Pickwick  cecumenick;*  of  fame  you  have  a  sure 

hope: 
For  here  your  books  are  found,  gadzooks !   in  greater  luxe  than 

any 
That  have  issued  yet,   hotpress'd  or  wet,   from  the   types  of 

Galignani. 

III. 
**  Cut  neither  when  you  sport  your  pen,  oh,  potent  mirth-com- 

peller  ! 
Winning  our  hearts  *  in  monthly  parts,'  can  Pickwick  or  Sam 

Wcller 
Cause  us  to  weep  with  pathos  deep,  or  shake  with  laugh  spas- 
modical. 
As  when  you  drain  your  copious  vein  for  Bentley's  periodical, 

IV. 

"Folks  all  enjoy  your  Parish  Boy, — so  truly  you  depict  him; 
But  I,  alack!  while  thus  you    track   your   stinted   Poor-law's 
victim, 

*  ctScoXoi/  TTj?  yrys  oikov}1€VT]S, 

F 


B2  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1838. 

Must  think  of  some  poor  nearer  home, — poor  who,  unheeded, 

perish, 
By  squires  despoiled,  by  'patriots'  gulled,— I  mean  the  starving 

Irish. 

,v. 

"  Yet  there  *s  no  dearth  of  Irish  mirth,  which,  to  a  mind  of 

feeling, 
Seemeth  to  be  the  Helot's  glee  before  the  Spartan  reeling : 
Such  gloomy  thought  o'ercometh  not   the   glow  of   England's 

humour. 
Thrice  happy  isle !  long  may  the  smile  of  genuine  joy  illume 

her! 

VI. 

"  Write  on,  young  sage !  still  o'er  the  page  pour  forth  the  flood 
of  fancy; 

Wax  still  more  droll,  wave  o'er  the  soul  Wit's  wand  of  necro- 
mancy. 

Behold !  e'en  now  around  your  brow  th'  immortal  laurel 
thickens ; 

Yea,  Swift  or  Sterne  might  gladly  learn  a  thing  or  two  from 
Dickens. 

VII. 

"  A  rhyme  !  a  rhyme  !  from  a  distant  clime, — a  song  from  the 

sunny  south ! 
A  goodly  theme,  so  Boz  but  deem  the  measure  not  uncouth. 
"Would,  for    thy  sake,  that  '  Prout  '  could    make  his    bow  in 

fashion  finer, 
'  Part  ant '   (from  thee)  *  pour    la  Syrie,'  for    Greece    and  Asia 

Minor. 

"  Genoay  \\th  December y  1837." 


CHAPTER  VI. 


"NICHOLAS   NICKLEBY." 

N  January,  1838,  "The  Memoirs  of  Joseph       ) 
Grimaldi,  the  Clown,"   edited  by  Dickens,     '^ 

illustrated  by  Cruikshank,  was  published  by    ^ 

Mr.  Bentley,  in  two  volumes.  It  is  amusingly  written,  / 
full  of  merriment  and  quaint  anecdotes  of  the  great 
pantomimist,  and  has  gone  through  several  editions. 
It  was  not,  however,  the  composition  of  Mr.  Dickens, 
being  only  "  edited  "  by  him,  as  the  title-page  de- 
clares. 

The  next  work^and  the  second  in  the  "green- 
leaf"  series — was  "Nicholas  Nickleby,"  the  first 
number  of  which  appeared  31st  March,  1838.  It 
extended  to  twenty  numbers,  and  was  published  in  a 
complete  form,  in  the  following  year,  by  Messrs. 
Chapman  and  Hall,  dedicated  to  Mr.  Macready. 
This  novel  showed  that  Dickens  was  still  working  for 
the  emancipation  of  boyhood.  In  the  preface,  after 
'mentioning  how  he  first  came  to  hear  of  the  gross 
mismanagement  carried  on  in  the  Yorkshire  schools; 
he  resolved  to  go  and  see  what  they  were  like. 

"  With  that  intent  I  went  down  into  Yorkshire 
before  I  began  this  book,  in  very  severe  winter-time, 

F  2 


84  '  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1338. 

which  is  pretty  faithfully  described  herein.  As  I 
wanted  to  see  a  schoolmaster  or  two,  and  was  fore- 
warned that  those  gentlemen  might,  in  their  modesty, 
be  shy  of  receiving  a  visit  from  the  author  of  the 
*  Pickwick  Papers,'  I  consulted  with  a  professional 
friend  here,  who  had  a  Yorkshire  connection,  and  with 
whom  I  concerted  a  pious  fraud.  He  gave  me  some 
letters  of  introduction,  in  the  name,  I  think,  of  my 
travelling  companion ;  they  bore  reference  to  a  sup- 
posititious little  boy  who  had  been  left  with  a  widowed 
mother  who  didn't  know  what  to  do  with  him  ;  the 
poor  lady  had  thought,  as  a  means  of  thawing  the 
tardy  compassion  of  her  relations  in  his  behalf,  of 
sending  him  to  a  Yorkshire  school ;  I  was  the  poor 
lady's  friend,  travelling  that  way  ;  and  if  the  recipient 
of  the  letter  could  inform  me  of  a  school  in  his  neigh- 
bourhood, the  writer  would  be  very  much  obliged. 

"I  went  to  several  places  in  .that  part  of  the 
country  where  I  understood  these  schools  to  be  most 
plentifully  sprinkled,  and  had  no  occasion  to  deliver 
a  letter  until  I  came  to  a  certain  town  which  shall  be 
nameless.  The  person  to  whom  it  was  addressed  was 
not  at  home ;  but  he  came  down  at  night,  through 
the  snow,  to  the  inn  where  I  was  staying.  It  was 
after  dinner  ;  and  he  needed  little  persuasion  to  sit 
down  by  the  fire  in  a  warm  corner,  and  take  his  share 
of  the  wine  that  was  on  the  table. 

"  I  am  afraid  he  is  dead  now.  I  recollect  he  was 
a  jovial,  ruddy,  broad-faced  man  ;  that  we  got  ac- 
quainted directly  ;  and  that  we  talked  on  all  kinds  of 


1838.]  "NICHOLAS  NICKLEDVr  85 

subjects,  except  the  school,  which  he  showed  a  great 
anxiety  to  avoid.  Was  there  any  large  school  near  ? 
I  asked  him,  in  reference  to  the  letter.  *  Oh  yes,'  he 
said  ;  *  there  was  a  pratty  big  'un.'  '  Was  it  a  good 
one  } '  I  asked.  *  Ey  ! '  he  said,  *  it  was  as  good  as 
anoother  ;  that  was  a' a  matther  of  opinion  ;'  and  fell 
to  looking  at  the  fire,  staring  round  the  room,  and 
whistling  a  little.  On  my  reverting  to  some  other 
topic  that  we  had  been  discussing,  he  recovered 
immediately ;  but,  though  I  tried  him  again  and 
again,  I  never  approached  the  question  of  the  school, 
even  if  he  were  in  the  middle  of  a  laugh,  without 
observing  that  his  countenance  fell,  and  that  he  be- 
came uncomfortable.  At  last,  when  we  had  passed  a 
couple  of  hours  or  so,  very  agreeably,  he  suddenly 
took  up  his  hat,  and  leaning  over  the  table  and  look- 
ing me  full  in  the  face,  said,  in  a  low  voice,  '  Weel, 
Misther,  we've  been  vary  pleasant  toogather,  and  ar'll 
spak'  my  moind  tiv'ee.  Dinnot  let  the  weedur  send 
her  lattle  boy  to  yan  o'  our  schoolmeasthers,  while 
there's  a  harse  to  hoold  in  a'  Lunnun,  or  a  gootther 
to  lie  asleep  in.  Ar  wouldn't  mak'  ill  words  amang 
my  neeburs,  and  ar  speak  tiv'ee  quiet  loike.  But 
I  'm  dom'd  if  ar  can  gang  to  bed  and  not  tellee,  for 
weedur's  sak',  to  keep  the  lattle  boy  from  a'  sike 
scoondrels  while  there's  a  harse  to  hoold  in  a'  Lunnun, 
or  a  gootther  to  lie  asleep  in ! '  Repeating  these 
words  with  great  heartiness,  and  with  a  solemnity  on 
his  jolly  face  that  made  it  look  twice  as  large  as 
before,  he  shook  hands  and  went  away.     I  never  saw 


86  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1S38. 

him  afterwards,  but  I  sometimes  imagine  that  I 
descry  a  faint  reflection  of  him  in  John  Browdie." 

In  reference  to  these  gentry,  we  may  here  quote  a 
few  words  from  the  original  preface  to  this  book  : — 

"  It  has  afforded  the  Author  great  amusement 
and  satisfaction,  during  the  progress  of  this  work,  to 
learn,  from  country  friends  and  from  a  variety  of 
ludicrous  statements  concerning  himself  in  provincial 
newspapers,  that  more  than  one  Yorkshire  school- 
master lays  claim  to  being  the  original  of  Mr. 
Squeers.  One  worthy,  he  has  reason  to  believe,  has 
actually  consulted  authorities  learned  in  the  law,  as  to 
his  having  good  grounds  on  which  to  rest  an  action 
for  libel ;  another,  has  meditated  a  journey  to  London, 
for  the  express  purpose  of  committing  an  assault  and 
battery  on  his  traducer  ;  a  third,  perfectly  remembers 
being  waited  on,  last  January  twelve  month,  by  two 
gentlemen,  one  of  whom  held  him  in  conversation 
while  the  other  took  his  likeness  ;  and,  although  Mr. 
Squeers  has  but  one  eye,  and  he  has  two,  and  the 
published  sketch  does  not  resemble  him  (whoever  he 
may  be)  in  any  other  respect,  still  he  and  all  his 
friends  and  neighbours  know  at  once  for  whom  it  is 
meant,  because — the  character  is  so  like  him." 

"  Nicholas  Nickleby "  is  not  quite  so  popular  as 
some  of  Dickens's  other  fictions,  although  it  is  cer- 
tainly not  inferior  to  any  of  the  other  works  of  this 
illustrious  author.  The  passages  describing  the  deaths 
of  Ralph  Nickleby,  and  Gride  the  Miser,  are  dramatic 
in  the  highest  degree,   and   inimitable  as  pieces   of 


,1838.]  :"  NICHOLAS  NICA'LEBY."  Zj 

•powerful  writing.  John  Browdie,  with  his  hearty- 
laugh,  and  thoroughly  English  heart,  will  ever  be  an 
immense  favourite.  Dotheboys  Hall  and  its  tenants 
is  a  very  sad  history,  and  well  might  Dickens  use  his 
utmost  endeavours  to  crush  such  an  infamous  hotbed 
of  misery  and  torment.  Who  has  not  roared  at  the 
eccentricities  of  Mrs.  Nickleby,  especially  in  that 
memorable  interview  with  the  gentleman  in  the  small 
clothes  } 

It  is  said  that  the  Brothers  Grant,  the  wealthy 
cotton-mill  owners  of  Manchester,  were  the  proto- 
types of  the  Brothers  Cheeryble  ;  both  are  now  dead, 
the  elder  one  dying  in  March,  1855.  In  the  original 
preface,  Dickens  having  stated  that  they  were  por- 
traits from  life,  and  were  still  living,  in  the  preface 
to  a  later  edition  he  said  : — "  If  I  were  to  attempt 
to  sum  up  the  hundreds  of  letters  from  all  sorts  of 
people,  in  all  sorts  of  latitudes  and  climates,  to  which 
this  unlucky  paragraph  has  since  given  rise,  I  should 
get  into  an  arithmetical  difficulty  from  which  I  could 
not  easily  extricate  myself.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  I 
believe  the  applications  for  loans,  gifts,  and  offices  of 
profit,  that  I  have  been  requested  to  forward  to  the 
originals  of  the.  Brothers  Cheeryble  (with  whom  I 
never  interchanged  any  communication  in  my  life) 
would  have  exhausted  the  combined  patronage  of 
all  the  lord  chancellors  since  the  accession  of  the 
House  of  Brunswick,  and  would  have  broken  the  rest 
of  the  Bank  of  England." 
,    In  Mr.   Samuel  Smiles's  admirable  "  Self   Help " 


88  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS,  [1838. 

(the  later  editions)  is  recorded  a  very  touching  in- 
stance of  the  kindness  and  generosity  of  these  gentle- 
men. However,  it  is  too  long  to  transfer  to  these  pages. 

Long  before  the  completion  of  "Nicholas  Nic- 
kleby,"  Mr.  Edward  Stirling  produced  a  dramatic 
version  of  it,  and  received,  in  consequence,  a  sharp 
reproof  in  the  ensuing  number.  It  was  performed  at 
the  Adelphi,  on  November  19th,  1838,  as  a  farce,  in 
two  acts  ;  Mr.  O.  Smith  representing  Newman 
Noggs ;  Mr.  Yates,  Mantalini ;  and  Mrs.  Keeley, 
Smike.  Another  adaption  was  brought  out  at  the 
Strand  Theatre,  under  the  title  of  "  The  Fortunes 
of  Smike."  As  recently  as  the  end  of  1866,  Mr. 
J.  L.  Toole  made  a  great  hit  by  doubling  the  parts  of 
Squeers  and  Newman  Noggs,  when  playing  in  the 
provinces  with  Mrs.  Billington,  who  made  a  capital 
Mrs.  Squeers,  the  termagant  partner  of  the  school- 
master. 

Sydney  Smith,  in  a  letter  to  Sir  George  Phillips, 
about  September,  1838,  wrote  : — "^  Nickleby '  is  very 
good.  I  stood  out  against  Mr.  Dickens  as  long  as  I 
could,  but  he  has  conquered  me." 

And  Thomas  Moore,  in  his  Diary,  under  date  April 
5,  1835,  mentions  dining  at  Messrs.  Longmans,  in 
Paternoster  Row,  the  company  consisting  of  Sydney 
Smith,  Canon  Tate,  Merivale,  Dionysius  the  Tyrant, 
McCuUoch,  and  Hayward  (the  translator  of  "  Faust"). 
"  Conversation  turned  on  Boz,  the  new  comic  writer. 
Was  sorry  to  hear  Sydney  cry  him  down,  and  evi- 
dently without  having  given  him  a  fair  trial.  Whereas, 


1839-]  "NICHOLAS  NICKLEBY."  89 

to  me,  it  appears  one  of  the  few  proofs  of  good  taste 
that  the  *  masses/  as  they  are  called,  have  yet  given, 
there  being  some  as  nice  humour  and  fun  in  the 
*  Pickwick  Papers '  as  in  any  work  I  have  seen  in 
our  day.  Hayward,  the  only  one  of  the  party  that 
stood  by  me  in  this  opinion,  engaged  me  for  a  dinner 
(at  his  chambers)  on  Thursday  next." 

In  the  following  year  Sydney  Smith  had  formed 
an  acquaintance  with  Dickens,  and  we  find  him  writ- 
ing to  the  author  of  "  Nicholas  Nickleby  "  : — 

''Nobody  more — and  more  justly — talked  of  than 
yourself.  The  Miss  Berrys,  now  at  Richmond,  live 
only  to  become  acquainted  with  you,  and  have  com- 
missioned me  to  request  you  to  dine  with  them  Friday, 
the  29th,  or  Monday,  July  ist,  to  meet  a  Canon  of 
St.  Paul's,  the  Rector  of  Combe  Florey,  and  the 
Vicar  of  Halberton,  all  equally  well  known  to  you  ; 
to  say  nothing  of  other  and  better  people.  The  Miss 
Berrys  and  Lady  Charlotte  Lindsay  have  not  the 
smallest  objection  to  be  put  into  a  number,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  would  be  proud  of  the  distinction  ;  and 
Lady  Charlotte,  in  particular,  you  may  marry  to 
Nev/man  Noggs.  Pray  come ;  it  is  as  much  as  my 
place  is  worth  to  send  a  refusal." 

We  have  already  given  evidence  of  Thackeray's 
hearty  appreciation  of  the  author  who  has  chronicled 
for  us  the  adventures  of  "  Oliver  Twist."  Later  on, 
in  Frascr's  Magazine,  when  commenting  on  the  Royal 
Academy  Exhibition,  we  find  another  interesting 
reference    by    Thackeray  to   Mr.   Dickens,   with   a 


$o  LIF^  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1839. 

prophecy  of  his  future  greatness  : — "  Look  (he  says, 
in  the  assumed  character  of  Michael  Angelo 
Titmarsh)  at  the  portrait  of  Mr.  Dickens, — well 
arranged  as  a  picture,  good  in  colour  and  light  and 
shadow,  and  as  a  likeness  perfectly  amazing  ;  a  look- 
ins:-dass  could  not  render  a  better  facsimile.  Here 
we  have  the  real  identical  man  Dickens :  the 
artist  must  have  understood  the  inward  *  Boz '  as 
well  as  the  outward  before  he  made  this  admirable 
representation  of  him.  What  cheerful  intellectuality 
is  about  the  man's  eyes,  and  a  large  forehead  !  The 
mouth  is  too  large  and  full,  too  eager  and  active, 
perhaps ;  the  smile  is  very  sweet  and  generous.  If 
Monsieur  de  Balzac,  that  voluminous  physiognomist, 
could  examine  this  head,  he  would  no  doubt  interpret 
every  line  and  wrinkle  in  it — the  nose  firm  and  well 
placed,  the  nostrils  wide  and  full,  as  are  the  nostrils 
of  all  men  of  genius  (this  is  Monsieur  Balzac's 
maxim).  The  past  and  the  future,  says  Jean  Paul, 
are  written  in  every  countenance.  I  think  we  may 
promise  ourselves  a  brilliant  future  from  this  one. 
There  seems  no  flagging  as  yet  in  it,  no  sense  of 
fatigue,  or  consciousness  of  decaying  power.  Long 
may  est  thou,  O  Boz  !'  .reign  over  thy  comic  kingdom  ; 
long  may  we  pay  tribute — whether  of  threepence 
weekly,  or  of  a  shilling  monthly,  it  matters  not. 
Mighty  prince !  at  thy  imperial  feet,  Titmarsh, 
humblest  of  thy  servants,  offers  his  vows  of  loyalty 
and  his  humble  tribute  of  praise." 

And   lecturing  on  "  Week-day  Preachers,"  at  St. 


1S39-40.]  ''NICHOLAS  NICKLEBY:'  91 

Martin's  Hall,*'  in  aid  of  the  Jerrold  Fund,  Thackeray 
spoke  of  the  delight  which  children  derived  from 
reading  the  works  of  Mr.  Dickens,  and  mentioned 
that  one  of  his  own  children  said  to  him  that  she 
wished  he  "  would  write  stories  like  those  which  Mr. 
Dickens  wrote.  The  same  young  lady,"  he  con- 
tinued, "  when  she  was  ten  years  old,  read  '  Nicholas 
Nickleby '  morning,  noon,  and  night,  beginning  it 
again  as  soon  as  she  had  finished  it,  and  never- 
wearying  of  its  fun." 

Concerning  the  financial  success  of  "Nicholas 
Nickleby,"  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  late  Mr. 
Tegg,  the  publisher,  writing  to  the  Times,  in  February, 
1840,  on  copyrights,  declared  that  the  work  produced 
the  author  ^3,000. 

At  the  Royal  Academy  Exhibition  of  1840,  a 
fine  portrait  of  Dickens,  painted  by  his  friend 
Daniel  Maclise,  was  exhibited.  This  is  the  portrait 
to  which  Thackeray  alludes  in  the  preceding  page. 
An  engraving  from  it  appeared  in  subsequent  editions 
of  "  Nicholas  Nickleby." 

'*  July,  1857. 


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CHAPTER  VII. 

PUBLICATION    OF    "  THE    OLD    CURIOSITY   SHOP  '* 
AND   "BARNABY   RUDGE." 


HE  first  number  of  "  Master  Humphrey's 
Clock"  appeared  on  the  4th  of  April,  1840. 
Not  content  with  the  unexampled  success 
which  had  attended  the  issue  of  "  Nicholas  Nickleby  " 
in  shilling  numbers,  the  publisher  conceived  the  mis- 
taken idea  of  altering  the  form  of  Mr.  Dickens's  new 
work.  It  was  not  to  be  in  what  is  technically  known 
as  "  demy  octavo,"  at  one  shilling,  but  in  ungainly 
"  imperial  octavo,"  and  in  weekly  numbers,  at  three- 
pence each.  Messrs.  Cattermole  and  "  Phiz  "  (Hablot 
K.  Browne)  had  undertaken  the  illustrations,  and  the 
v/ork  proceeded,  but  it  soon  became  a  matter  of 
policy,  or  rather  of  necessity,  to  revive  the  public  in- 
terest ;  and  this  was  done  by  the  resuscitation  of  Mr. 
Pickwick  and  of  the  two  Wellers — father  and  son. 
Thus  helped  forward,  the  new  work  began  to  make 
its  way  steadily ;  and  the  two  principal  tales,  "  The 
Old  Curiosity  Shop "  and  "  Barnaby  Rudge,"  are 
among  the  best  and  most  popular  of  Mr.  Dickens's 
stories.  The  work  was  published  in  a  complete  form 
in  the  following  year  by  Messrs.  Chapman  and  Hall. 
Eventually  the  author  thought   fit  to   separate   the 


1S40.]  "  THE   OLD   CURIOSITY  SHOP."  93 

stories,  "  and  *  Master  Humphrey's  Clock,'  as  origi- 
nally constructed,"  he  mentions,  "  became  one  of  the 
lost  books  of  the  earth — which,  we  all  know,  are  far 
more  precious  than  any  that  can  be  read  for  love  or 
money." 

The  "  Old  Curiosity  Shop "  is  a  splendid  and 
touching  story.  Little  Nelly  is  a  beautiful  and  deli- 
cate creation  ;  so  likewise  is  the  poor  schoolmaster,  and 
his  favourite  scholar,  who  wrote  so  good  a  hand  with 
such  a  very  little  one.  We  may  here  mention  a 
curious  fact,  to  which  Mr.  R.  H.  Home,  in  his  "  New 
Spirit  of  the  Age,"  first  directed  attention.  He  says 
that  the  description  of  Nelly's  death,  if  divided  into 
lines,  will  form  that  species  of  gracefully  irregular 
blank  verse  which  Shelley  and  Southey  often  used. 
Here  is  a  specimen: — 

"  When  Death  strikes  down  the  innocent  and  young. 
For  every  fragile  form,  from  which  he  lets 

The  panting  spirit  free, 

A  hundred  virtues  rise. 
In  shape  of  mercy,  charity,  and  love. 

To  walk  the  world  and  bless  it. 

Of  every  tear 
That  sorrowing  nature  sheds  on  such  green  graves. 
Some  good  is  born,  some  gentler  nature  comes." 

Of  that  exquisitely  beautiful  creation,  "little  Nell," 
Mr.  Dickens  has  himself  remarked  : — "  I  have  a 
mournful  pride  in  one  recollection  associated  with 
'  little  Nell.'  While  she  was  yet  upon  her  wander- 
ings, not  then  concluded,  there  appeared  in  a  literary 


94  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1840. 

journal  an  Essay,  of  which  she  was  the  principal 
theme,  so  earnestly,  so  eloquently,  and  tenderly 
appreciative  of  her,  and  of  all  her  shadowy  kith  and 
kin,  that  it  would  have  been  insensibility  in  me  if 
I  could  have  read  it  without  an  unusual  glow  of 
pleasure  and  encouragement.  Long  afterwards,  and 
when  I  had  come  to  know  him  well,  and  see  him, 
stout  of  heart,  going  slowly  down  into  his  grave,  I 
knew  the  writer  of  that  Essay  to  be  THOMAS  HoOD." 

In  the  course  of  this  review.  Hood  took  occasion 
to  say  of  the  author : — "  The  poor  are  his  especial 
clients.  He  delights  to  show  worth  in  low  places — 
living  up  a  court,  for  example,  with  Kit  and  the 
industrious  washerwoman,  his  mother.  To  exhibit 
Honesty  holding  a  gentleman's  horse,  or  Poverty 
bestowing  alms." 

Eraser y  in  1850,  said,  "We  have  been  told  that 
when  the  '  Old  Curiosity  Shop '  was  drawing  to  a 
close,  he  received  heaps  of  anonymous  letters  in 
female  hands,  imploring  him  '  not  to  kill  little  Nell* 
The  wretch  ungallantly  persisted  in  his  murderous 
design  ;  and  those  gentle  readers  only  wept,  and 
forgave  him." 

Dick  Swiveller  is  a  type  and  representative  of  a 
numerous  class  of  young  men,  not  absolutely  vicious, 
but  too  lazy  to  work,  and  who  lounge  away  their 
lives  resorting  to  all  manner  of  shifts  and  contrivances 
to  exist,  yet  great  at  the  clubs  and  meetings,  as  he 
v/as,  as 

*'  Perpetual  Grand  of  the  Glorious  Apollos." 


1840.]  "BARNABY  RUDGE."  95, 

Ouilp  is,  perhaps,  the  most  carefully  elaborated 
and  highly  finished  character  of  all — a  Caliban  and 
v/retch,  never  more  delighted  than  when  inflicting 
pain  on  his  meek  wife,  Mrs.  Jiniwin,  his  mother-in- 
law,  or  that  fawning,  white-livered  hound,  Sampson 
Brass,  the  attorney  of  Bevis  Marks.  To  comment 
further  would  be  to  pass  a  glowing  eulogium  on  every 
other  character  in  the  book.  It  was  dedicated  to  his 
friend  Samuel  Rogers,  the  Banker  Poet. 

''  Barnaby  Rudge  "  is  a  history  of  the  notorious 
"No  Popery"  riots  of  1 780,  which  had  hitherto  not 
formed  the  subject  of,  or  been  introduced  into,  any 
work  of  fiction.  The  tale  abounds  in  vigorous  de- 
scriptions of  the  chief  misguided  actor.  Lord  George 
Gordon,  and  the  dreadful  scenes  that  ensued.  The 
sketches  of  Old  Willett,  at  the  Maypole,  at  Chigwell, 
and  the  courtship  of  Joe  Willett  and  Dolly  Varden, 
are  unsurpassed ;  Sir  Edward  Chester  evidently 
being  intended  for  the  celebrated  Lord  Chesterfield, 
the  decorously  polite  but  heartless  author  of  a  worth- 
less book  entitled  "  Lord  Chesterfield's  Letters  to  his 
Son." 

"  Will"  (writes  a  friend  of  the  late  novelist)  "  a  great 
living  painter  of  English  manners,  Mr.  W.  P.  Frith, 
forgive  an  allusion  to  the  early  days  when  the  success 
of  his  admirable  picture  of  'Dolly  Varden'  led  Charles 
Dickens  to  call  on  him,  and,  after  expressing  the 
warmest  thanks  for  the  feeling  and  appreciation 
v/hich  the  artist's  handiwork  displayed,  to  give  him  a 
commission  for  other  subjects,  to  be  selected  from 


96  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1840 

the  works  of  '  Boz  ? '  Dickens,"  continues  the  writer, 
"  wanted  on  canvas,  and  in  hues  which  should  Hve, 
the  young  artist's  conception  of  the  imaginary  people 
with  whose  characteristics  England  was  ringing.  His 
hearty  approval  of  the  pictures,  when  painted,  his 
personal  introduction  of  himself  to  thank  the  artist, 
and  his  cheque,  with  the  well-known  signature,  the 
'■  C  '  rather  like  a  *  G,*  and  the  elaborate  flourish  be- 
neath it,  exactly  as  it  is  given  outside  the  last  edition 
of  his  works,  are,  we  venture  to  say,  like  things  of 
yesterday  to  Mr.  Frith." 

It  is  doubtful  if  the  illustrious  author  of  "  Barnaby 
Rudge  "  ever  knew  that  the  genial  Tom  Hood — for 
whom  Dickens  always  had  the  greatest  admiration, 
we  may  almost  say  affection — once  wrote  an  ex- 
quisitely beautiful  account  of  that  work,  as  well  as 
of  "  The  Old  Curiosity  Shop."  We  know  it  as  a 
fact,  and  the  reader  can  judge  for  himself  whether 
Hood  was  not  the  man,  above  all  others,  to  appreciate 
Dickens.  The  reviewer  says  : — "  The  first  chapter 
pleasantly  plants  us,  not  in  Cato  Street,  but  on  the 
borders  of  Epping  Forest,  at  an  ancient  ruddy 
Elizabethan  inn,  with  a  maypole  for  its  sign,  an 
antique  porch,  quaint  chimneys,  and  *more  gable-ends 
than  a  crazy  man  would  care  to  count  on  a  sunny 
day.'  The  ornamented  eaves  are  haunted  by  twitter- 
ing swallows,  and  the  distorted  roof  is  mobbed  by 
clusters  of  cooing  pigeons.  Then  for  its  landlord : 
there  is  old  John  Willett,  as  square  and  as  slow  as  a 
tortoise  ;  and  for  its  parlour  customers,  Long  Parks, 


THE    HOME    OF    CHARLES     DICKENS, 

1840—  1850. 


No.  I  DEVONSHIRE    TERRACE,  NEW  ROAD. 

After  removing  from  Doughty  Street,  Mr.  Dickens  resided  in  this  house,  and  here 
were  written  a  large  portion  of  "The  Old  Curiosity  Shop,"  "  Barnaby  Rudge,"  "A 
Christmas  Carol,"  "The  American  Notes,"  "  Martin  Chuzzlewit,"  "The  Cricket  on  the 
Hearth,"  "The  Battle  of  Life,"  "  Dombey  and  Son,"  "The  Haunted  Man,"  and 
"  David  Copperfield. " 


1840.]  DICKENS'S  RAVENS.  97 

Tom  Cobb,  both  taciturn  and  profound  smokers  ; 
and  Solomon  Daisy,  that  parochial  Argus,  studded 
all  down  his  rusty  black  coat,  and  his  long  flapped 
waistcoat,  with  little  queer  buttons,  like  nothing  ex- 
cept his  eyes,  but  so  like  them,  that  as  they  twinkled 
and  glistened  in  the  light  of  the  fire,  which  shone  too 
in  his  bright  shoe-buckles,  he  seemed  all  eyes  from 
head  to  foot." 

As  illustrative  of  Mr.  Dickens's  love  of  animals — 
of  ravens  in  particular — ^we  may  here  be  permitted  to 
give  his  own  remarks  in  a  preface  to  the  cheap  edition 
of  this  work  : — "  As  it  is  Mr.  Waterton's  opinion  that 
ravens  are  gradually  becoming  extinct  in  England, 
I  offer  a  few  words  here  about  mine. 

"  The  raven  in  this  story  is  a  compound  of  two 
great  originals,  of  whom  I  have  been,  at  different 
times,  the  proud  possessor.  The  first  was  in  the 
bloom  of  his  youth,  when  he  was  discovered  in  ai. 
modest  retirement,  in  London,  by  a  friend  of  mine,, 
and  given  to  me.  He  had  from  the  first,  as  Sir  Hugh 
Evans  says  of  Anne  Page,  'good  gifts,'  which  he 
improved  by  study  and  attention  in  a  most  exemplary^ 
manner.  He  slept  in  a  stable — generally  on  horse- 
back — and  so  terrified  a  Newfoundland  dog  by  his 
preternatural  sagacity,  that  he  has  been  known,  by 
the  mere  superiority  of  his  genius,  to  walk  oft*  un- 
molested with  the  dog's  dinner  from  before  his  face. 
He  was  rapidly  rising  in  acquirements  and  virtues, 
when,  in  an  evil  hour,  his  stable  was  newly  painted. 
He  observed  the  workmen  closely,  saw  that  they  were 

G 


98  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1840. 

careful  of  the  paint,  and  immediately  burned  to 
possess  it.  On  their  going  to  dinner,  he  ate  up  all 
they  had  left  behind,  consisting  of  a  pound  or  two  of 
white  lead  ;  and  this  youthful  indiscretion  terminated 
in  death. 

"  While  I  was  yet  inconsolable  for  his  loss,  another 
friend  of  mine  in  Yorkshire  discovered  an  older  and 
more  gifted  raven  at  a  village  public-house,  which  he 
prevailed  upon  the  landlord  to  part  with  for  a  con- 
sideration, and  sent  up  to  me.  The  first  act  of  this 
Sage  was,  to  administer  to  the  effects  of  his  prede- 
cessor, by  disinterring  all  the  cheese  and  halfpence  he 
had  buried  in  the  garden — a  work  of  immense  labour 
and  research,  to  which  he  devoted  all  the  energies  of 
his  mind.  When  he  had  achieved'  this  task,  he  applied 
himself  to  the  acquisition  of  stable  language,  in  which 
he  soon  became  such  an  adept,  that  he  would  perch 
outside  my  window  and  drive  imaginary  horses  with 
great  skill,  all  day.  Perhaps  even  I  never  saw  him  at 
his  best,  for  his  former  master  sent  his  duty  with  him, 
'■  and  if  I  wished  the  bird  to  come  out  very  strong, 
would  I  be  so  good  as  to  show  him  a  drunken  man  ' — 
which  I  never  did,  having  (fortunately)  none  but 
sober  people  at  hand.  But  I  could  hardly  have 
respected  him  more,  whatever  the  stimulating  in- 
fluences of  this  sight  might  have  been.  He  had  not 
the  slightest  respect,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  for  me  in 
return,  or  for  anybody  but  the  cook ;  to  whom  he  was 
attached — but  only,  I  fear,  as  a  policeman  might 
have  been.     Once,  I  met  him  unexpectedly,  about 


1840.]  DICKENS'S  RAVENS.  .-99 

half  a  mile  off,  walking  down  the  middle  of  the  public 
street,  attended  by  a  pretty  large  crowd,  and  spon- 
taneously exhibiting  the  whole  of  his  accomplishments. 
His  gravity  under  those  trying  circumstances  I  never 
can  forget,  nor  the  extraordinary  gallantry  with 
which,  refusing  to  be  brought  home,  he  defended 
himself  behind  a  pump,  until  overpowered  by  numbers. 
It  may  have  been  that  he  was  too  bright  a  genius  to 
live  long,  or  it  may  have  been  that  he  took  some 
pernicious  siibstance  into  his  bill,  and  thence  into  his 
maw — which  is  not  improbable,  seeing  that  he  new- 
pointed  the  greater  part  of  the  garden  wall  by  digging 
out  the  mortar,  broke  countless  squares  of  glass  by 
scraping  away  the  putty  all  round  the  frames,  and 
tore  up  and  swallowed,  in  splinters,  the  greater  part 
of  a  wooden  staircase  of  six  steps  and  a  landing — but 
after  some  three  years  he  too  was  taken  ill,  and  died 
before  the  kitchen  fire.  He  kept  his  eye  to  the  last 
upon  the  meat  as  it  roasted,  and  suddenly  turned 
over  on  his  back  with  a  sepulchral  cry  of  ^  Cuckoo  !  * 
Since  then  I  have  been  ravenless." 

it  is  just  worth  while  to  remark,  in  connection  with 
this  fondness  for  ravens,  that  a  personal  friend,  a 
bad  punster,  being  at  a  party,  and  remarking  on  the 
mania  Dickens  seemed  to  have  for  these  birds,  said, 
"  Dickens  is  raven  mad!'  This,  being  repeated,  gave 
rise  to  a  report,  which  was  industriously  spread  by 
his  detractors,  that  "  Dickens  was  raving  mad,"  and 
**  was  confined  in  a  madhouse/'  and  other  silly 
rumours. 

G  2 


lOO  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1840. 

"  Barnaby  Rudge "  expressed  the  author's  abhor- 
rence to  capital  punishment,  on  the  principle  enunci- 
ated by  Pistol,  in  Shakspeare's  "  King  Henry  V."  : — 

"  Let  gallows  gape  for  dog,  let  man  go  free. 
And  let  not  hemp  his  wind-pipe  suffocate." 

The  pathetic  scene  of  the  grey-headed  old  father 
following  the  dead  body  of  his  only  son,  merely  to 
touch  the  lifeless  hand  of  the  boy  so  unjustly  hung, 
also  reminds  one  of  Shakspeare's  lines: — 

*'  If  I  put  out  thy  light,  thou  flaming  minister, 
I  can  restore  it,  should  I  repent  me ; 
But  once  put  out  thy  light,  thou  cunning's  t  pattern  of  excelling 

nature, 
I  know  not  that  Promethean  heat  that  can  thy  light  relume.** 

Some  London  publisher,  about  this  time,  having 
issued  imitations  or  piracies  of  some  of  Dickens's 
former  works  and  titles,  Thomas  Hood,  writing  to 
the  AthencBum  (June,  1842)  on  ''Copyright  and  Copy- 
wrong,"  speaks  of  a  conversation  he  had  had  with 
a  bookseller  on  a  spurious  "  Master  Humphrey's 
Clock." 

"  Sir,"  said  the  bookseller,  **  if  you  had  observed 
the  name,  it  was  Bos,  not  Boz — s,  sir,  not  z  ;  and,  be- 
sides, it  would  have  been  no  piracy,  sir,  even  with 
the  z,  because  '  Master  Humphrey's  Clock,'  you  see, 
sir,  was  not  published  as  by  Boz,  but  by  Charles 
Dickens  1 " 

In  the  summer  of  1841,  a  dramatized  version  of 
the  story,  by  Charles    Selby,  was   produced  at  the 


1840-41-]        '•BARNABY  RUDGE"  DRAMATIZED.  lot 

Lyceum,  and  other  versions  appeared  about  the  same 
time  at  various  theatres.  More  recently,  on  Novem- 
ber 13th,  1866,  it  was  put  on  the  stage  at  the 
Princess's,  by  Messrs.  Vining  and  Watts  Phillips,  as 
a  four-act  drama,  Miss  Rodgers  playing  Barnaby 
Rudge,  Mrs.  John  Wood  Miss  MIggs,  Mr.  Shore  Sir 
John  Chester.  A  newspaper  critic,  speaking  of  Mrs. 
Wood's  performance,  observed  : — '*  If  any  one  ex- 
pected the  subdued  cough,  the  small  groan,  the  sigh, 
the  sniff,  the  spasmodic  start,  and  the  constant  rub- 
bing and  tweaking  of  the  nose  to  which  Miss  Miggs 
had  recourse  in  the  frequent  moments  of  her  vexa- 
tion, would  have  been  reproduced  by  Mrs.  John 
Wood  in  illustration  of  the  novelist's  description, 
they  must  have  overlooked  the  peculiarities  of  that 
liberty-loving  country  from  which  the  debiita7ite  has 
just  come,  after  a  sojourn  of  some  twelve  years.  It  is 
quite  apparent  that  Mrs.  John  Wood  has  been  in  the 
habit  of  representing  Miss  Miggs  repeatedly  on  the 
other  side  the  Atlantic,  in  a  version  which  has 
been  doubtless  made  by  some  patriotic  American, 
who  believed  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
secured  the  right  of  departing  as  far  as  possible  from 
the  intentions  of  the  British  author.  The  Miss  Miggs 
who  appeared  last  evening  on  the  stage  of  the  Prin- 
cess's is  a  '  Yankee  gal '  of  the  familiar  down-east 
pattern,  who  sings  one  of  the  high-toned  ditties 
characteristic  of  her  class,  mixes  up  grotesque  panto- 
mime extravagances  with  nasal  inflections  and  an- 
gular attitudes,  and  thinks  nothing  of  sprawling  on 


loa  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1841; 

tables  and  tumbling  into  tubs.  Nor,  in  personal 
appearance,  will  the  good-looking,  though  coarse- 
mannered,  companion  of  Mrs.  Varden  at  all  corre- 
spond to  the  portraiture  which  was  also  so  long 
identified  with  one  of  the  principal  figures  in  '  Master 
Humphrey's  Clock/  The  double  disappointment 
thus  experienced  found  audible  expression  in  the 
course  of  the  performance,  and  drew  the  customary- 
expostulation  of  a  first  night  from  Mr.  Vining,  who 
took  the  opportunity  of  a  call  at  the  end  of  the  third 
act  to  address  the  audience.  *  On  the  present  occa- 
sion,' observed  Mr,  Vining,  *  I  do  not  appear  before 
you  as  an  actor ;  but  from  a  private  box  I  have  seen 
that  a  determination  to  hiss  this  piece  from  its  com- 
mencement has  been  apparent  on  the  part  of  a  few 
persons  among  the  audience.  I  have  watched  for  an 
expression. of  public  opinion.  If  you  have  seen  any- 
thing which  deserved  hissing,  hiss  away — (cheers) — 
but  some,  to  the  degradation  of  their  manhood,  have 
hissed  a  lady  who  was  a  stranger  in  the  land.'  "  Mr. 
George  Honey  was  afterwards  substituted  to  play  the 
part,  and  the  piece  ran  until  January  following. 

That  our  author,  about  this  time,  was  busy  in 
"  society "  as  well  as  in  literature,  we  have  good 
evidence  from  the  examples  of  his  correspondence 
which  exist  in  contemporary  biography.  With  the 
Countess  of  Blessington  he  had  been  acquainted  for 
some  time.  On  one  occasion  Dickens  fell  in  with  a 
remarkable  clairvoyant — ^a  "  magnetic  boy,"  as  he  is 
styled,  and  our  author  thus  writes  to  the  Countess  : — -_ 


1841.]  "  THE  PIC-NIC  PAPERS."  103 

"  Have  you  seen  Townsend's  magnetic  boy  ?  You 
heard  of  him,  no  doubt,  from  Count  d'Orsay.  If  you 
get  him  to  Gore  House,  don't,  I  entreat  you,  have 
more  than  eight  people — four  is  a  better  number — to 
sec  him.  He  fails  in  a  crowd,  and  is  mai'vclloiis 
before  a  few.  I  am  told,  that  down  in  Devonshire 
there  are  young  ladies  innumerable  who  read  crabbed 
manuscripts  with  the  palms  of  their  hands,  and  who, 
so  to  speak,  are  literary  all  over.  I  begin  to  under- 
stand what  a  blue-stocking  means ;  and  have  not  the 

slightest  doubt  that  Lady ,  for  instance,  could 

write  quite  as  entertaining  a  book  with  the  sole  of  her 
foot  as  ever  she  did  with  her  head.  I  am  a  believer 
in  earnest,  and  I  am  sure  you  would  be  if  you  saw 
this  boy,  under  moderately  favourable  circumstances, 
as  I  hope  you  will  before  he  leaves  England."  * 

It  was  about  this  time  that  "  The  Pic-nic  Papers," 
"by  various  hands,"  and  edited  by  Dickens,  was 
issued  by  Mr.  Henry  Colburn,  in  three  volumes, 
with  illustrations  by  George  Cruikshank.  The 
work  was  the  result  of  a  series  of  literary  con- 
tributions in  aid  of  the  family  of  Mr.  Macrone, 
who  had  just  died.  He  was  described  in  the 
preface  as  "A  publisher  who  died  prematurely 
young,  and  in  the  prime  and  vigour  of  his  years, 
before  he  had  time  or  opportunity  to  make  any  pro- 
vision for  his  wife  and  infant  children,  and  at  the 
moment  when  his  prospects  were  the  brightest,  and 

*  Madden's  "Life  of  Lady  Blessington,"  June,  1841. 


104  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1841. 

the  difficulties  of  his  enterprise  were  nearly  over- 
come." The  editor  led  off  with  "  The  Lamplighter's 
Story."  The  contributors  comprised  Messrs.  Talfourd, 
Thomas  Moore,  W.  H.  Maxwell,  Leitch  Ritchie, 
Michael  Honan,  John  Forster,  Allan  Cunningham, 
and  W.  Harrison  Ainsworth.  The  book  served  the 
purpose  it  was  intended  for,  and  realized  a  large 
sum.  It  is  now  seldom  read,  and  then  more  for  the 
editor's  tale  than  for  anything  else  contained  in  it. 

In  the  July  of  this  year  (1841)  a  public  dinner 
in  honour  of  Dickens  took  place  at  Edinburgh,  and 
went  off  with  great  eclat,  Professor  Wilson  (the  cele- 
brated "■  Christopher  North")  presiding.* 

*  Mr.  Dickens's  speech  upon  this  occasion  is  given  in  the 

great  novelist's  collected  "  Speeches,"  recently  published. 


■«<s^??^3^c§e^^ 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


DICKENS'S  VISIT  TO  AMERICA. 


ONG  before  he  fixed  any  date  for  his  depar- 
ture, Dickens  had  promised  Washington 
Irving,  and  many  other  correspondents  in 
America,  that  he  would  come  and  see  them.  The 
progress  of  *'  Oliver  Twist,"  "  Nicholas  Nickleby," 
and  other  works,  however,  delayed  the  event,  and 
many  of  his  English  admirers  did  all  that  lay  in 
their  power  to  keep  him  at  home.  "  Worked  hard," 
says  poor  Haydon,  the  painter,  in  his  Diary,  under 
date  December  loth  ;  "  Talfourd  said  he  introduced 
Dickens  to  Lady  Holland.  She  hated  the  Ameri- 
cans, and  did  not  want  Dickens  to  go. 

"  She  said,  *  Why  cannot  you  go  down  to  Bristol, 
and  see  some  of  the  third  or  fourth-class  people,  and 
they  '11  do  just  as  well .?'  " 

And  the  genial  Thomas  Hood,  in  his  article  on 
*'  Barnaby  Rudge,"  after  lamenting  the  temporary 
loss  of  Dickens,  thus  excuses  his  absence  : — "  Avail- 
ing himself  of  the  pause  for  a  little  well-earned  rest 
and  recreation,  the  author,  it  appears,  has  sailed  on  a 
long  projected  trip  to  America  ;  or,  according  to  Mr. 
Weller,  senior,  has  *  made  away  with  hisself  to  an- 


io6  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1842. 

other,  though  not  a  better,  world,'  though  it's  called  a 
new  one.  In  fact  he  is,  we  hope,  paddling  prosper- 
ously across  the  Atlantic,  whilst  we  are  sitting  down 
to  criticise  the  characters  he  has  left  behind  him  in 
his  '  Barnaby  Rudge.'  " 

To  another  journal  Hood  sent  these  lines  : — 

TO   C.  DICKENS,   ESQ^, 

On  his  Departure  for  A7?ierica, 

"  Pshaw  !  away  with  leaf  and  berry. 

And  the  sober-sided  cup  ! 
Bring  a  goblet,  and  bright  sherry. 

And  a  bumper  fill  me  up  ! 
Though  a  pledge  I  had  to  shiver. 

And  the  longest  ever  was, 
Ere  his  vessel  leaves  our  river, 

I  would  drink  a  health  to  Eoz  ! 
Here's  success  to  all  his  antics. 

Since  it  pleases  him  to  roam, 
And  to  paddle  o'er  Atlantics, 

After  such  a  sale  at  home  ! 
May  he  shun  all  rocks  whatever, 

And  each  shallow  sand  that  lurks, 
And  his  passage  be  as  clever 

As  the  best  among  his  works !" 

It  was  on  the  3rd  of  January,  1842,  that  our 
author  and  his  wife  left  England  for  the  United 
States.  They  went  to  Liverpool,  and  crossed  the 
Atlantic  in  the  Britannia  steam-packet.  Captain 
Hewett.     The  result  of  this  trip  was  the  publication. 


1842.]  DICKENS'S    VISIT   TO  AMERICA.  107 

by  Messrs.   Chapman  and  Hall,  in  October  of  the 
same  year,  of  "American  Notes  for  General   Circu- 
lation," in  two  volumes,  with  a  frontispiece  by  Clark- 
son  Stanfield,  R.A. 
The  dedication  was  as  follows  : — 

"  i  dedicate  this  book 

to  those  friends  of  mine  in  america, 

Who, 

Giving  me  a  welcome  I  must  ever  gratefully  and  proudly 

remember, 
Left  my  judgment 

FREE ;       , 

And  who,  loving  their  country, 

Can  bear  the  truth,  when  it  is  told  good  iiumouredly, 

and  in  a  kind  spirit." 


The  publication,  however,  gave  great  offence  to  our 
author's  American  readers,  and,  as  he  might  have 
foreseen,  he  got  abused  and  vilified  most  unmercifully. 
Judge  Haliburton  ("  Sam  Slick  "),  in  one  of  his 
-works,  alluding  to  the  fetes  and  receptions  given  to 
Dickens,  said  that,  on  his  homeward  passage,  he  had 
suffered  severely  from  sea-sickness,  and  all  the  kind- 
ness he  had  experienced  had  been  cast  overboard. 

Whether  Dickens  had  in  his  mind's  eye  the  advice 
tendered  by  old  Weller  to  Sam,  when  he  proposed 
having  a  "planner"  to  carry  Mr.  Pickwick  from  the 
Fleet  Prison,  is  uncertain  : — 

"  There  ain't  no  vurks  in  it,"  whispered  his  father. 

"  It  'uU  hold  him  easy,  with  his  hat  and   shoes  on, 

and  breathe  through  the  legs,  vich  is  holler.     Have  a 

'passage  ready  taken  for  'Merriker.     The.  'Merrikin 


io8  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1842 

gov'ment  vill  never  give  him  up,  ven  they  finds  as 
he 's  got  money  to  spend,  Sammy.  Let  the  gov'ner 
stop  there  till  Mrs.  Bardell  's  dead,  or  Mr.  Dodson 
and  Fogg's  hung,  which  last  ewent  I  think  is  the 
most  likely  to  happen  first,  Sammy ;  and  then  let 
him  come  back  and  write  a  book  about  the  'Merrikins 
as  '11  pay  all  his  expenses  and  more,  if  he  blows  'em 
up  enough." 

Emerson,  in  "  The  Conduct  of  Life  "  (in  the  Essay 
on  "  Behaviour  "),  writes  : — 

"  Charles  Dickens  self-sacrificingly  undertook  the 
reformation  of  our  American  manners  in  unspeakable 
particulars.  I  think  the  lesson  was  not  quite  lost  ; 
that  it  held  bad  manners  up,  so  that  the  churls  could 
see  the  deformity.  Unhappily,  the  book  has  its  own 
deformities.  It  ought  not  to  need  to  print  in  a 
reading-room  a  caution  to  strangers  not  to  speak 
loud  ;  nor  to  persons  who  look  over  fine  engravings, 
that  they  should  be  handled  like  cobwebs  and  butter- 
flies' wings ;  nor  to  persons  who  look  at  marble 
statues,  that  they  shall  not  smite  them  with  their 
canes." 

In  publishing  a  new  edition  of  "American  Notes," 
in  1850,  Dickens,  in  the  preface,  urged  that  "pre- 
judiced I  have  never  been,  otherwise  than  in  favour 

of  the  United  States To  represent  me 

as  viewing  it  with  ill-nature,  animosity,  or  partisan- 
ship, is  merely  to  do  a  very  foolish  thing,  which  is 
always  a  very  easy  one,  and  which  I  have  disregarded 
for  eight  years,  and  could  disregard  for  eighty  more." 


1842.]  DICKENS'S    VISIT   TO  AMERICA.  109 

Whatever  Transatlantic  critics  may  have  thought 
of  the  work,  Lord  Jeffrey,  on  the  appearance  of  the 
first  edition,  wrote  the  author  a  letter,  in  which  he 
says,  *'  A  thousand  thanks  for  your  charming  book, 
and  for  all  the  pleasure,  profit,  and  relief  it  has 
afforded  me.  You  have  been  very  tender  to  our 
sensitive  friends  beyond  the  sea,  and  really  said 
nothing  which  will  give  any  serious  offence  to  any 
moderately  rational  patriot  amongst  them.  The 
slavers^  of  course,  will  give  you  no  quarter,  and  of 

course   you   did  not  expect  they  would 

Your  account  of  the  silent  or  solitary  imprisonment 
system  is  as  pathetic  and  as  powerful  a  piece  of 
writing  as  I  have  ever  seen,  and  your  sweet  airy  little 
snatch  of  the  little  woman  taking  her  new  babe  home 
to  her  young  husband,*  and  your  manly  and  feeling 
appeal  in  behalf  of  the  poor  Irish,  or  rather  the  affec- 
tionate poor  of  all  races  and  tongues,  who  are  patient 
and  tender  to  their  children,  under  circumstances 
which  would  make  half  the  exemplary  parents 
among  the  rich  monsters  of  selfishness  and  dis- 
content, remind  us  that  we  have  still  among  us  the 
creator  of  Nelly  and  Smike,  and  the  schoolmaster 
and  his  dying  pupil,  and  must  continue  to  win  for 
you  still  more  of  that  homage  of  the  heart,  that  love 
and  esteem  of  the  just  and  the  good,  which,  though 
it  should   never  be  disjoined   from   them,  should,   I 

*  See  Chapter  XII.  "  American  Notes."  A  very  finished 
and  beautiful  little  incident,  related  in  that  natural  and  truthful 
manner  in  which  Dickens  excels  all  other  writers. 


no  .     LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1S42. 

think  you  must  already  feel,  be  better  than  fortune 
or  fame." 

Very  recently  it  has  been  made  known  that  poor 
Tom  Hood,  almost  immediately  upon  its  appearance, 
reviewed  the  work,  under  the  title  of  "  Boz  in  Ame- 
rica." In  his  happiest  vein  of  drollery,  he  conjectures 
that  it  would  be  impossible  for  Mr.  Boz  to  go  to 
"  the  States  "  without  losing  all  his  English  charac- 
teristics, and  returning  to  his  friends  a  regular 
Down-East  Yankee  : — "  So  strong,  indeed,  was  this 
impression,  that  certain  blue-stockinged  prophetesses 
even  predicted  a  new  Avater  of  the  celebrated  Mr. 
Pickwick,  in  slippers  and  loose  trousers,  a  nankeen 
jacket,  and  a  straw  hat  as  large  as  an  umbrella. 
Sam  Weller  was  to  re-appear  as  his  '  help,'  instead  of 
a  footman,  still  full  of  droll  sayings,  but  in  a  slang 
more  akin  to  his  namesake,  the  Clock-maker :  while 
Weller,  senior,  was  to  revive  on  the  box  of  a  Boston 
long  stage — only  calling  himself  Jonathan,  instead 
of  Tony,  and  spelling  it  with  a  G.  A  Virginian 
Widow  Bardell  was  as  a  matter  of  course ;  and 
some  visionaries  even  foresaw  a  slave-owninsf  Mr. 
Snodgrass,  a  coon-hunting  Mr.  Winkle,  a  wide-awake 
Joe,  and  a  forest-clearing  Bob  Sawyer.*  But,  upon 
the  appearance  of  the  book  itself,"  continues  Hood, 
"  the  romanticists  were  in  despair,   and  reluctantly 

*  "  With  the  wishes  of  these  admirers  of  Boz  we  can  in  some 
degree  sympathize  ;  for  what  could  be  a  greater  treat,  in  the 
reading  way,  than  the  perplexities  of  a  squatting  Mr.  Pickwick, 
or  a  settling  Mrs.  Nickleby?" 


1842.]  DICKENS'S    VISIT   TO  AMERICA.  iii 

abandoned  all  hopes  of  a  Pennsylvanian  Nicholas 
Nickleby,  affectionately  darning-  his  mother — a  New 
Yorkshire  Mr.  Squeers,  flogging  creation — a  black 
Smike — a  brown  Kate — and  a  Bostonian  Newman 
Noggs,  alternately  swallowing  a  cocktail  and  a 
cobbler y 

Professor  Felton,  alluding  to  the  death  of  Washing- 
ton Irving,  In  a  speech,  In  the  latter  part  of  the  year 
1859,  gave  this  Interesting  reminiscence  of  the  friend- 
ship existing  between  Dickens  and  Irving  : — 

"  The  time  when  I  saw  the  most  of  Mr.  Irving  was 
in  the  winter  of  1842,  during  the  visit  of  Mr.  Charles 
Dickens  In  New  York.  I  had  known  this  already 
distinguished  writer  in  Boston  and  Cambridge,  and, 
while  passing  some  weeks  with  my  dear  and  lamented 
friend,  Albert  Sumner,  I  renewed  my  acquaintance 
with  Mr.  Dickens,  often  meeting  him  in  the  brilliant 
literary  society  which  then  made  New  York  a  most 
agreeable  resort.  Halleck,  Bryant,  Washington 
Irving,  Davis,  and  others,  scarce  less  attractive  by 
their  genius,  wit,  and  social  graces,  constituted  a 
circle  not  to  be  surpassed  anywhere  in  the  world. 
I  passed  much  of  the  time  with  Mr.  Irving  and  Mr. 
Dickens,  and  It  was  delightful  to  witness  the  cordial 
intercourse  of  the  young  man,  in  the  flush  and  glory  of 
his  youthful  genius,  and  his  elder  compeer,  then  in  the 
assured  possession  of  immortal  renown.  Dickens  said, 
in  his  frank  hearty  manner,  that,  from  his  childhood, 
he  had  known  the  works  of  Irving  ;  and  that,  before 
he  thought  of  coming  to  this  country,  he  had  received 


112  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1842. 

a  letter  from  him,  expressing  the  delight  he  felt  in 
reading  the  story  of  'Little  Nell;'  and  from  that 
day  they  had  shaken  hands  mitographically  across  the 
Atlantic." 

After  Professor  Felton's  reminiscences,  it  may  not 
be  uninteresting  to  quote  the  following  extract  from 
a  letter  written  by  Washington  Irving  to  his  niece 
(Mrs.  Storrow),  under  date  May  25,  1841,  in  which  he 
mentions  a  letter  he  had  just  received  from  Dickens, 
in  reply  to  one  from  himself : — 

"  And  now  comes  the  third  letter  from  that  glo- 
rious fellow,  Dickens  (Boz),  in  reply  to  the  one  I 
wrote,  expressing  my  heartfelt  delight  with  his 
writings,  and  my  yearnings  towards  himself  See 
how  completely  we  sympathize  in  feeling : — 

"  *  There  is  no  man  in  the  world,'  replies  Dickens, 
'  who  could  have  given  me  the  heartfelt  pleasure  you 
have  by  your  kind  note  of  the  13th  of  last  month. 
There  Is  no  living  writer,  and  there  are  very  few 
among  the  dead,  whose  approbation  I  should  feel  so 
proud  to  earn  ;  and,  with  everything  you  have  written 
upon  my  shelves,  and  in  my  thoughts,  and  In  my 
heart  of  hearts,  I  may  honestly  and  truly  say  so.  If 
you  could  know  how  earnestly  I  write  this,  you  would 
be  glad  to  read  it — as  I  hope  you  will  be,  faintly 
guessing  at  the  warmth  of  the  hand  I  autographlcally 
hold  out  to  you  over  the  broad  Atlantic. 

"  *  I  wish  I  could  find  In  your  welcome  letter  some 
hint  of  an  Intention  to  visit  England.  I  can't.  I 
have  held  it  at  arm's  length,  and  taken  a  bird's-eye 


1S42.]  DICKENS'S    VISIT   TO  AMERICA.  113 

view  of  itj  after  reading  it  a  great  many  times;  but 
there  is  no  greater  encouragement  in  it,  this  way, 
than  on  a  microscopic  inspection.  I  should  love  to 
go  with  you — as  I  have  gone,  God  knows  how  often 
— into  Little  Britain,  and  Eastcheap,  and  Green 
Arbour  Court,  and  Westminster  Abbey.  I  should 
like  to  travel  with  you,  outside  the  last  of  the 
coaches,  down  to  Bracebridge  Hall.  It  would  make 
my  heart  glad  to  compare  notes  with  you  about  that 
shabby  gentleman  in  the  oil-cloth  hat  and  red  nose, 
who  sat  in  the  nine-cornered  back  parlour  of  the 
Mason's  Arms  ;  and  about  Robert  Preston,  and  the 
tallow-chandler's  widow,  v/hose  sitting-room  is  second 
nature  to  me  ;  and  about  all  those  delightful  places 
and  people  that  I  used  to  walk  about  and  dream  of 
in  the  daytime,  when  a  very  small  and  not-over- 
particularly-taken-care-of  boy.  I  have  a  good  deal 
to  say,  too,  about  that  dashing  Alonzo  de  Ojeda,  that 
you  can't  help  being  fonder  of  than  you  ought  to  be ; 
and  much  to  hear  concerning  Moorish  legend,  and 
poor  unhappy  Boabdil.  Diedrich  Knickerbocker  I 
have  worn  to  death  in  my  pocket,  and  yet  I  should 
show  you  his  mutilated  carcase  with  a  joy  past  all 
expression. 

"  *'  I  have  been  so  accustomed  to  associate  you  with 
my  pleasantest  and  happiest  thoughts,  and  with  my 
leisure  hours,  that  I  rush  at  once  into  full  confidence 
with  you,  and  fall,  as  it  were  naturally,  and  by  the 
very  laws  of  gravity,  into  your  open  arms.  Questions 
come  thronging  to  my  pen  as  to  the  lips  of  people 


114  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1842. 

who  meet  after  long  hoping  to  do  so.  I  don't  know 
what  to  say  first,  or  what  to  leave  unsaid,  and  am 
constantly  disposed  to  break  off  and  tell  you  again 
how  cflad  I  am  this  moment  has  arrived. 

"  *  My  dear  Washington  Irving,  I  cannot  thank  you 
enough  for  your  cordial  and  generous  praise,  or  tell 
you  what  deep  and  lasting  gratification  it  has  given 
me.  I  hope  to  have  many  letters  from  you,  and  to 
exchange  a  frequent  correspondence.  I  send  this  to 
say  so.  x\fter  the  first  two  or  three,  I  shall  settle 
down  into  a  connected  style,  and  become  gradually 
rational. 

''  *  You  know  what  the  feeling  is,  after  having  written 
a  letter,  sealed  it,  and  sent  it  off.  I  shall  picture  you 
reading  this,  and  answering  it,  before  it  has  lain  one 
night  in  the  post-ofiice.  Ten  to  one  that  before  the 
fastest  packet  could  reach  New  York  I  shall  be 
writing  again. 

"*Do  you  suppose  the  post-office  clerks  care  to 
receive  letters  1  I  have  my  doubts.  They  get  into 
a  dreadful  habit  of  indifference.  A  postman,  I 
imagine,  is  quite  callous.  Conceive  his  delivering 
one  to  himself,  without  being  startled  by  a  prelimi- 
nary double  knock ! '  " 

Irving,  writing  again  to  Mrs.  Storrow,  29th  of 
October  following,  says  :* — 

"  What  do  you  think }  Dickens  is  actually  coming 
to  America.  He  has  engaged  passage  for  himself 
and  his  wife  in  the  steam-packet  for  Boston,  for  the 
4th  of  January  next.     He  says :  '  I  look  forward  to 


1842.]  DICKENS'S   VISIT  TO  AMERICA.  115 

shaking  hands  with  you,  with  an  interest  I  cannot 
(and  I  would  not  if  I  could)  describe.  You  caj^ 
imagine,  I  dare  say,  something  of  the  feelings  with 
which  I  look  forward  to  being  in  America.  I  can 
hardly  believe  I  am  coming.'  " 

But  to  return  to  Professor  Felton  and  his  recollec- 
tions of  Irving  and  Dickens.     He  continues  : — 

"  Great  and  varied  as  was  the  genius  of  Mr.  Irving, 
there  was  one  thing  he  shrank  with  a  comical  terror 
from  attempting,  and  that  was  a  dinner  speech.  A 
great  dinner,  however,  was  to  be  given  to  Mr.  Dickens 
in  New  York,  as  one  had  already  been  given  in 
Boston,  and  it  was  evident  to  all  that  no  man  like 
Washington  Irving  could  be  thought  of  to  preside. 
With  all  his  dread  of  making  a  speech,  he  was 
obliged  to  obey  the  universal  call,  and  to  accept  the 
painful  pre-eminence.  I  saw  him  daily  during  the 
interval  of  preparation,  either  at  the  lodgings  of 
Dickens,  or  at  dinner,  or  at  evening  parties.  I  hoped 
I  showed  no  want  of  sympathy  with  his  forebodings, 
but  I  could  not  help  being  amused  with  his  tragi- 
comical distress  which  the  thought  of  that  approach- 
ing dinner  had  caused  him.  His  pleasant  humour 
mingled  with  the  real  dread,  and  played  with  the 
whimsical  horrors  of  his  own  position  with  an  irre- 
sistible drollery.  Whenever  it  v/as  alluded  to,  his 
invariable  answer  was,  *  I  shall  certainly  break  down!' — 
uttered  in  a  half-melancholy  tone,  the  ludicrous  effect 
of  which  it  is  impossible  to  describe.  He  was  haunted, 
as  if  by  a  nightmare  ;  and  I  could   only  compare 

11  2 


ii6  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1842. 

his  dismay  to  that  of  Mr.  Pickwick,  who  was  so 
alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  leading  about  that 
*  dreadful  horse''  all  day.  At  length  the  long- 
expected  evening  arrived.  A  company  of  the  most 
eminent  persons,  from  all  the  professions  and  every 
walk  of  life,  were  assembled,  and  Mr.  Irving  took 
the  chair.  I  had  gladly  accepted  an  invitation, 
making  it,  however,  a  condition  that  I  should  not 
be  called  upon  to  speak — a  thing  I  then  dreaded 
quite  as  much  as  Mr.  Irving  himself.  The  direful 
compulsions  of  life  have  since  helped  me  to  over- 
come, in  some  measure,  the  post-prandial  fright. 
Under  the  circumstances — an  invited  guest,  with  no 
impending  speech- — I  sat  calmly  and  watched  with 
interest  the  imposing  scene.  I  had  the  honour  to  be 
placed  next  but  one  to  Mr.  Irving,  and  the  great 
pleasure  of  sharing  in  his  conversation.  He  had 
brought  the  manuscript  of  his  speech,  and  laid  it 
under  his  plate.  *  I  shall  certainly  break  down,'  he 
repeated  over  and  over  again.  At  last  the  moment 
arrived.  Mr.  Irving  rose,  and  was  received  with 
deafening  and  long-continued  applause,  which  by  no 
means  lessened  his  apprehension.  He  began  in  his 
pleasant  voice  ;  got  through  two  or  three  sentences 
pretty  easily,  but  in  the  next  hesitated ;  and,  after 
one  or  two  attempts  to  go  on,  gave  it  up,  with  a 
graceful  allusion  to  the  tournament,  and  the  troop  of 
knights  all  armed  and  eager  for  the  fray  ;  and  ended 
with  the  toast,  '  Charles  Dickens,  the  guest  of  the 
nation.*     *  There!'  said  he,  as  he  resumed  his  scat 


1842.]  DICKENS'S    VISIT   TO  AMERICA,  117 

under  a  repetition  of  the  applause  which  had  saluted 
his  rising, — '  there  !  I  told  you  I  should  break  down, 
and  I  've  done  it.' 

"  There  certainly  never  was  a  shorter  after-dinner 
speech ;  and  I  doubt  if  there  ever  was  a  more 
successful  one.  The  manuscript  seemed  to  be  a  dozen 
or  twenty  pages  long,  but  the  printed  speech  was  not 
as  many  lines. 

"  Mr.  Irving  often  spoke  with  a  good-humoured 
envy  of  the  felicity  with  which  Dickens  always 
acquitted  himself  on  such  occasions."  * 

*  This  speech  is  given  in  "  The  Speeches  of  Charles  Dickens," 
recently  published.  Thomas  Moore,  in  his  Diary,  speaking  of 
running  up  to  London  to  act  as  steward  of  the  Literary  Fund 
Dinner  at  the  Freemasons'  Tavern,  H.R.H.  The  Prince  Con- 
sort acting  as  chairman,  says: — ^'May  ilth,  1842. — By  the 
bye,  Irving  had  yesterday  come  to  Murray's  with  the  determi- 
nation, as  I  found,  not  to  go  to  the  dinner,  and  all  begged  of  me 
to  use  my  influence  with  him  to  change  this  resolution.  But  he 
told  me  his  mind  was  made  up  on  the  point,  that  the  drinking 
his  health,  and  the  speech  he  would  have  to  make  in  return, 
were  more  than  he  durst  encounter ;  that  he  had  broken  down 
at  the  Dickens  Dinner  (of  which  he  was  chairman)  in  America, 
and  obliged  to  stop  short  in  the  middle  of  his  oration,  which 
made  him  resolve  not  to  encounter  another  such  accident.  In 
vain  did  I  represent  to  him  that  a  few  words  would  be  quite 
sufficient  in  returning  thanks.  '  That  Dickens  Dinner,'  which 
he  always  pronounced  with  strong  emphasis,  hammering  away 
all  the  time  with  his  right  arm,  more  suo, '  that  Dickens  Dinner ' 
still  haunted  his  imagination,  and  I  almost  gave  up  all  hope  of 
persuading  him."  The  arguments  proved  irresistible,  and  Irving 
went  to  it. 


5i8  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS,  [1842. 

Immediately  after  the  dinner,  Irving  and  Dickens 
started  off  together  to  Washington,  to  spend  a  few- 
days,  and  there  took  leave  of  one  another.  Irving  at 
this  time  having  just  received  his  appointment  as 
Minister  to  Spain,  Dickens  wrote  to  him: — "We 
passed  through — literally  passed  through — this  place 
again  to-day.  I  did  not  come  to  see  you,  for  I  really 
had  not  the  heart  to  say  good-bye  again,  and  I  felt 
more  than  I  can  tell  you  when  we  shook  hands  last 
Wednesday.  You  will  not  be  at  Baltimore,  I  fear  ? 
I  thought,  at  the  time,  that  you  only  said  you  might 
be  there,  to  make  our  parting  the  gayer. 

"  Wherever  you  go,  God  bless  you  !  What  pleasure 
I  have  had  in  seeing  and  talking  with  you,  I  will  not 
attempt  to  say.  I  shall  never  forget  it  as  long  as  I 
live.  What  would  I  give,  if  we  could  have  a  quiet 
walk  together !  Spain  is  a  lazy  place,  and  its  climate 
an  indolent  one.  But  if  you  have  ever  leisure  under 
its  sunny  skies  to  think  of  a  man  who  loves  you,  and 
holds  communion  with  your  spirit  oftener,  perhaps, 
than  any  other  person  alive — leisure  from  listlessness, 
I  mean — and  will  write  to  me  in  London,  you  will 
give  me  an  inexpressible  amount  of  pleasure." 

Dickens  took  the  opportunity,  in  a  number  of  All 
the  Year  Round,  March,  1862  (when  the  song  "A 
Young  Man  from  the  Country"  was  very  popular, 
and  which  suggested  the  article),  to  remark  that 
what  he  had  originally  written  about  the  United 
States  had  been  fully  borne  out  in  the  recent  events 
in  that  great  republic. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


FURTHER  AMERICAN   EXPERIENCES. 

N  1848  there  appeared  a  new  edition  of  an 
extensive  and  important  Avork  on  "  Prison 
Discipline."  The  author  was  the  Rev.  John 
Field,  Chaplain  of  the  County  Gaol  at  Reading,  in 
Berkshire,  and  well  known  in  literary  circles  as  the 
author  of  a  "  Life  of  John  Howard,  the  Philanthro- 
pist," and  editor  of  the  "  Howard  Correspondence." 
This  v/ork  on  prison  discipline  had  attracted  consi- 
derable attention,  and  as  the  author,  in  advocating 
the  advantages  of  the  separate  system  of  imprison- 
ment, took  occasion  to  mention  Mr.  Dickens's  re- 
marks in  his  "  American  Notes "  upon  the  Solitary 
Prison  at  Philadelphia,  the  latter  felt  it  his  duty  to 
reply : — 

"As  Mr.  Field  condescends  to  quote  some  vapour- 
ings  about  the  account  given  by  Mr.  Charles  Dickens 
in  his  '  American  Notes '  of  the  Solitary  Prison  at 
Philadelphia,  he  may  perhaps  really  wish  for  some 
few  words  of  information  on  the  subject.  For  this 
purpose  Mr.  Charles  Dickens  has  referred  to  the  entry 
in  his  Diary,  made  at  the  close  of  that  day. 


120  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1842. 

"  He  left  his  hotel  for  the  prison  at  twelve  o'clock; 
being  waited  on,  by  appointment,  by  the  gentleman 
who  showed  it  to  him,  and  he  returned  between 
seven  and  eight  at  night  ;  dining  in  the  prison  in  the 
course  of  that  time  ;  which,  according  to  his  calcula- 
tion, in  despite  of  the  Philadelphia  newspaper,  rather 
exceeded  two  hours.  He  found  the  prison  admirably 
conducted,  extremely  clean,  and  the  system  adminis- 
tered in  a  most  intelligent,  kind,  orderly,  tender,  and 
careful  manner.  He  did  not  consider  (nor  should 
he,  if  he  were  to  visit  Pentonville  to-morrow)  that 
the  book  in  which  visitors  were  expected  to  record 
their  observations  of  the  place  was  intended  for  the 
insertion  of  criticisms  on  the  system,  but  for  honest 
testimony  to  the  manner  of  its  administration,  and 
to  that  he  bore,  as  an  impartial  visitor,  the  highest 
testimony  in  his  power.  In  returning  thanks  for  liis 
health  being  drunk,  at  the  dinner  within  its  walls,  he 
said  that  what  he  had  seen  that  day  was  running 
in  his  mind ;  that  he  could  not  help  reflecting  on 
it ;  and  that  it  was  an  awful  punishment.  If  the 
American  officer  who  rode  with  him  afterwards 
should  ever  see  these  words,  he  will  perhaps  recall 
his  conversation  with  Mr.  Dickens  on  the  road,  as  to 
Mr.  Dickens  having  said  so,  very  plainly,  and  very 
strongly.  In  reference  to  the  ridiculous  assertion 
that  Mr.  Dickens  in  his  book  termed  a  woman  'quite 
beautiful '  who  was  a  negress,  he  positively  believes 
that  he  was  shown  no  negress  in  the  prison,  but  one 
who  was  nursing  a  woman  much  diseased,  and  to 


1842.]  FURTHER  AMERICAN  EXPERIENCES.  121 

whom  no  reference  whatever  is  made  in  his  published 
account.  In  describing  three  young  women,  '  all 
convicted  at  the  same  time  of  a  conspiracy,'  he  may, 
possibly,  among  many  cases,  have  substituted  in  his 
memory,  for  one  of  them  whom  he  did  not  see,  some 
other  prisoner,  confined  for  some  other  crime,  whom 
he  did  see  ;  but  he  has  not  the  least  doubt  of  having 
been  guilty  of  the  (American)  enormity  of  detecting 
beauty  in  the  passive  quadroon  or  mulatto  girl,  or  of 
having  seen  exactly  what  he  describes  ;  and  he  re- 
members the  girl  more  particularly  described  in  this 
connection  perfectly.  Can  Mr.  P'ield  really  suppose 
Mr.  Dickens  had  any  interest  or  purpose  in  misre- 
presenting the  system,  or  that,  if  he  could  be  guilty 
of  such  unworthy  conduct,  or  desire  to  do  it  anything 
but  justice,  he  could  have  volunteered  the  narrative 
of  a  man's  having,  of  his  own  choice,  undergone  it 
for  two  years  ? 

"We  will  not  notice  the  objection  of  Mr.  Field 
(who  strengthens  the  truth  of  Mr.  Burns  to  nature, 
by  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Pitt ! )  to  the  discussion  of 
such  a  topic  as  the  present  in  a  work  of  '  mere  amuse- 
ment;'  though  we  had  thought  we  remembered  in  that 
book  a  word  or  two  about  slavery,  which,  although  a 
very  amusing,  can  scarcely  be  considered  an  unmi- 
tigatedly  comic  theme.  We  are  quite  content  to 
believe,  without  seeking  to  make  a  convert  of  the 
Reverend  Mr.  Field,  that  no  work  need  be  one  of 
*  mere  amusement,'  and  that  some  works  to  which  he 
would  apply  that  designation  have  done  a  little  good 


122  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS,  [1842. 

in  advancing  principles  to  which,  we  hope  and  will 
believe,  for  the  credit  of  his  Christian  office,  he  is  not 
indifferent." 

However,  all  these  disputes  and  "  angry  recollec- 
tions" of  the  America  of  1842,  were  finally  dis- 
posed of  by  Mr.  Dickens  on  his  arrival  home  after  a 
second  visit  to  that  great  country.  At  the  end  of 
this  little  Memoir  we  give  the  great  novelist's  public 
testimony  of  the  change  in  his  experiences  of 
America,  with  the  "Postscript"  which  he  then  declared 
should  for  ever  after  continue  to  form  a  part  of  any 
new  edition  of  "American  Notes." 

One  of  the  prime  objects  in  Mr.  Dickens's  visit 
to  our  Transatlantic  Cousins  Vv^as  the  endeavour  to 
place  the  vexed  question  of  International  Copyright 
on  a  sound  and  proper  footing,  and  whenever  an 
available  occasion  presented  itself,  he  strenuously 
urged  his  ideas  and  views.  Returning  to  England, 
he  forwarded  to  the  AihencBiLin  this  letter,  for  which 
he  had  desired  the  v/idest  publicity,  in  the  hope  that 
it  might  assist  in  bringing  about  the  much-desired 
International  Convention.  It  was  inserted  with  the 
following  editorial  note  : — 

"  On  the  subject  of  literary  piracy  we  have 
received  the  following  letter  from  Mr.  Charles 
Dickens.  We  do  not  see  very  clearly  the  good  that 
would  result  even  from  a  general  adoption  of  the  pro- 
posed measures  ;  but  the  straightforward  and  hearty 
way  in  which  the  writer  has,  under  the  most  dis- 
couraging circumstances,  set  himself  in  opposition  to 


1842.]  FURTHER  AMERICAN  EXPERIENCES.  123 

the  disgraceful  practice,  entitles  all  his  suggestions  to 
respectful  attention : — 

"  I  Devonshire  Terrace,  York  Gate, 
"  Regent's  Park, 

"7th  July,  1842. 

"  You  may  perhaps  be  aware,  that  during  my  stay 
in  America  I  lost  no  opportunity  of  endeavouring  to 
awaken  the  public  mind  to  a  sense  of  the  unjust  and 
iniquitous  state  of  the  law  of  that  country  in  refer- 
ence to  the  wholesale  piracy  of  British  works. 
Having  been  successful  in  making  the  subject  one  of 
general  discussion  in  the  United  States,  I  carried  to 
Washington,  for  presentation  to  Congress  by  Mr. 
Clay,  a  petition  from  the  whole  body  of  American 
authors,  earnestly  praying  for  the  enactment  of  an 
International  Copyright  Law.  It  was  signed  by  Mr. 
Washington  Irving,  Mr.  Prescott,  Mr.  Cooper,  and 
every  man  who  had  distinguished  himself  in  the  lite- 
rature of  America,  and  has  since  been  referred  to  a 
Select  Committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
To  counteract  any  effect  which  might  be  produced 
by  that  petition,  a  meeting  was  held  at  Boston — 
v/hich  you  will  remember  is  the  seat  and  stronghold 
of  Learning  and  Letters  in  the  United  States — at 
v/hich  a  memorial  against  any  change  in  the  existing 
state  of  things  in  this  respect  was  agreed  to,  with  but 
one  dissentient  voice.  This  document,  which,  in- 
credible as  it  may  appear  to  you,  was  actually  for- 
warded to  Congress,  and  received,  deliberately  stated, 


124  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1842. 

that  if  English  authors  were  invested  with  any 
control  over  the  republication  of  their  own  books,  it 
would  be  no  longer  possible  for  American  editors  to 
alter  and  adapt  them  (as  they  do  now)  to  the 
American  taste.  This  memorial  was  without  loss  of 
time  replied  to  by  Mr.  Prescott,  who  commented, 
with  the  natural  indignation  of  a  gentleman  and  a 
man  of  letters,  upon  its  extraordinary  dishonesty.  I 
am  satisfied  that  this  brief  mention  of  its  tone  and 
spirit  is  sufficient  to  impress  you  with  the  conviction 
that  it  becomes  all  those  who  are  in  any  way  con- 
nected with  the  literature  of  England  to  take  that 
high  stand  to  which  the  nature  of  their  pursuits,  and 
the  extent  of  their  sphere  of  usefulness,  justly  entitle 
them,  to  discourage  the  upholders  of  such  doctrines 
by  every  means  in  their  power,  and  to  hold  them- 
selves aloof  from  the  remotest  participation  in  a 
system,  from  which  the  moral  sense  and  honourable 
feeling  of  all  just  men  must  instinctively  recoil.  For 
myself  I  have  resolved  that  I  will  never  from  this 
time  enter  into  any  negotiation  with  any  person  for 
the  transmission  across  the  Atlantic  of  early  proofs 
of  anything  I  may  write,  and  that  I  will  forego  all 
profit  derivable  from  such  a  source.  I  do  not  venture 
to  urge  this  line  of  proceeding  upon  you,  but  I  would 
beg  to  suggest,  and  to  lay  great  stress  upon  the 
necessity  of  observing,  one  other  course  of  action,  to 
which  I  cannot  too  emphatically  call  your  attention. 
The  persons  who  exert  themselves  to  mislead  the 
American  public  on  this  question,  to  put  down  its 


1842.]  FURTHER  AMERICAN  EXPERIENCES.  125 

discussion,  and  to  suppress  and  distort  the  truth  in 
reference  to  it  in  every  possible  way  (as  you  may  easily 
suppose)  are  those  who  have  a  strong  interest  in  the 
existing  system  of  piracy  and  plunder ;  inasmuch  as, 
so  long  as  it  continues,  they  can  gain  a  very  comfort- 
able living  out  of  the  brains  of  other  men,  while  they 
would  find  it  very  difficult  to  find  bread  by  the 
exercise  of  their  own.  These  are  the  editors  and 
proprietors  of  newspapers  almost  exclusively  devoted 
to  the  republication  of  popular  English  works.* 
They  are,  for  the  most  part,  men  of  very  low  attain- 
ments, and  of  more  than  indifferent  reputation,  and 
I  have  frequently  seen  them,  in  the  same  sheet  in 
which  they  boast  of  the  rapid  sale  of  many  thousand 
copies  of  an  English  reprint,  coarsely  and  insolently 
attacking  the  author  of  that  very  book,  and  heaping 
scurrility  and  slander  upon  his  head.  I  would  there- 
fore entreat  you,  in  the  name  of  the  honourable  pur- 
suit with  which  you  are  so  intimately  connected, 
never  to  hold  correspondence  with  any  of  these  men, 
and  never  to   negotiate  with  them   for  the  sale  of 

*  Shortly  after  his  first  landing  in  America,  Thackeray  was 
invited  to  dinner  by  one  of  the  Messrs.  Harper,  the  well-known 
publishing  firm,  whose  magazine,  Harper'^s  Monthly,  was  at  one 
period  a  deliberate  compilation  from  all  the  best  English  periodi- 
cals. On  his  introduction  to  Mr.  Harper,  Thackeray  had 
joked  with  him  on  the  American  contempt  for  copyright ;  and 
when  he  went  into  the  drawing-room  he  took  a  little  girl  whom 
he  found  playing  there  on  his  knee,  and  gazing  at  her  with 
feigned  wonder,  said  in  solemn  tones,  "  And  this  is  a  pirate's 
daurjitcr  I '' 


126  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1S42. 

early  proofs,  over  which  you  have  control,  but  to 
treat  on  all  occasions  with  some  respectable  American 
publishing  house,  and  with  such  an  establishment 
only.  Our  common  interest  in  this  subject,  and  my 
advocacy  of  it,  single-handed,  on  every  occasion  that 
has  presented  itself  during  my  absence  from  Europe, 
forms  my  excuse  for  addressing  you. 

"  I  am,  &c., 

"Charles  Dickens." 

To  revert  to  the  American  visit,  we  may  state  that 
for  the  "■  Dickens  Ball,"  at  Nev/  York,  on  February 
14th,  1842,  a  committee  of  the  citizens  recommended, 
among  many  other  suggestions  of  a  similar  character, 
the  following : — 

ORDER  OF  DANCES  AND  TABLEAUX  VIVANTS. 

1.  Grand  March. 

2.  Tableau  Vivant  «  A  Sketch,  by  Boz." 

3.  AmiJie  Quadrille. 

4.  Tableau  Vivant  "The  Seasons,"  a  poem,  with  music. 

5.  Quadrille  Waltz,  selections. 

6.  Tableau  Vivant The  book  of  "Oliver  Tv^ist." 

7.  Quadrille  March    Norma. 

8.  Tableau  Vivant  "  The  Ivy  Green." 

9.  Victoria  Waltz. 

10.  Tableau  Vivant "Little  Nell." 

11.  Basket  Quadrille. 

12.  Tableau  Vivant The  book  of  "Nicholas  Nickleby." 

13.  March. 

14.  Tableau  Vivant    ..."  A  Sketch,  by  Boz." 

15.  Spanish  Dance. 

16.  Tableau  Vivant .."The  Pickw^ick  Papers." 


1S42.]  FURTHER  AMERICAN  EXPERIENCES.  127 

It  is,  perhaps,  well  to  remark  that  "Mrs.  Leo 
Hunter's  dinner  party"  was  presented  among  the 
tableaux,  as  finally  amended.  The  following  report 
of  an  actual  incident  at  the  ball  reads  like  an  extract 
from  the  account  of  the  manner  in  which  Martin 
Chuzzlewit  "received"  the  American  sovereigns  at 
the  "National  Hotel"  :— - 

**As  Boz  approached,  Mr.  Philip  Hone  seized  his 
hand,  and  said,  ^  My  dear  sir,  here  is  a  handful  of  our 
people — right  glad — bright  eyes — rejoice — heartfelt 
welcome — can't  express — overpowered — feelings  ' — 
to  all  which  Boz  most  graciously  bowed,  and  placed 
his  hand  upon  his  heart ;  and  then  Mr.  Hone  said 
"  nine  cheers,"  and,  evidently  to  the  astonishment  of 
the  hero  of  the  extraordinary  scene,  the  surrounding 
crowd  gave  utterance  to  nine  enthusiastic  cheers." 

Punch  jokingly  said  :  "  We  learnt,  while  having 
our  hair  cut  at  Trucfitt's  the  other  day  (March,  1842), 
that  that  illustrious  dealer  in  fictitious  hair  had  re- 
ceived an  immense  order  from  Boz,  originating  in  his 
desire  to  gratify  the  seventeen  thousand  American 
young  ladies  who  had  honoured  him  with  applications 
for  locks  from  his  caput.  Two  ships  have  been 
chartered  to  convey  the  sentimental  cargo,  and  will 
start  from  the  London  docks  on  the  1st  day  of  April." 

Soon  after  his  return  from  America  we  find  Sydney 
Smith  again  in  active  correspondence  with  our  author. 
Dickens  had  asked  him  to  dinner,  and  Sydney  Smith 
replied* : — 

*i4th  May,  1842. 


128  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1842. 

*'  I  accept  your  obliging  invitation  conditionally. 
If  I  2.m  invited  by  any  man  of  greater  genius  than 
yourself,  or  by  one  In  whose  works  I  have  been  more 
completely  Interested,  I  will  repudiate  you,  and  dine 
with  the  more  splendid  phenomenon  of  the  two." 

At  the  end  of  the  year,  on  the  loth  December, 
"The  Patrician's  Daughter,"  by  Dr.  Westland  Mar- 
ston,  was  represented  at  Drury  Lane,  the  beautiful 
prologue  by  Dickens  being  admirably  delivered  by 
Ur.  Macready. 


:<S^.rSr?t/"o 


'^^"^^      "^^         ^>«V^^    C^/C^^U^     i^^^.^i-'^J^ 

A^    ^TMt/y/  M.4m^c6         LrCc^         1^^         ^(jU.^'f^ 


Facsimile     of 


M¥  Dl(  KE7S  S'  HJLXl)  WRITIN  (r. 


CHAPTER  X. 

"  MARTIN   CHUZZLEWIT." 


NDETERRED  by  the  disapprobation  show- 
ered down  upon  him  by  the  Americans,  on 
1st  January,  1843,  Dickens  issued  the  first 
number  of  "  Martin  Chuzzlewit." 

If  there  had  been  any  previous  doubt  as  to  the 
general  feeling  throughout  the  States,  there  was  none 
now.  No  sooner  had  the  new  book  reached  America 
than  the  storm  burst  forth  with  great  violence,  and 
all  classes  were  so  touched  with  Dickens's  satire 
and  the  fun  he  had  made  of  them,  that  a  writer 
some  time  since  said  that  when  present  at  the 
Boston  Theatre — the  burlesque  of  "  Macbeth  "  being 
performed — all  sorts  of  worthless  articles  (Mexican 
rifles,  Pennsylvanian  bonds,  &c.)  were  pitched  into 
the  cauldron,  in  the  incantation  scene,  but  nothing 
provoked  louder  cheers  than  when  the  last  work 
by  Dickens  was  thrown  in !  The  American  journals, 
both  literary  and  political,  all  united  against  the 
common  foe,  much  in  the  same  way  as  they  had 
united  twelve  years  before  against  Mrs.  Trollope,  and 
her  "  Domestic  Manners  of  the  Americans." 

In  the  preface  to  the  cheap  edition  appearing  in 

I 


330  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1843. 

2849,  ^^  remarked  that  the  American  portions  of 
the  book,  he  had  been  given  to  understand  from 
authorities,  were  considered  violent  exaggerations, 
and  that  the  Watertoast  Association  and  eloquence, 
for  example,  were  beyond  all  bounds  of  belief. 
Nothing,  however,  but  a  liberal  paraphrase  of  some 
reports  of  public  proceedings  in  the  United  States 
(especially  of  the  Brandywine  Association),  printed 
in  the  Times y  in  June  and  July,  1843,  had  been 
employed  in  writing  Martin  Chuzzlewit,  and  these 
formed  the  material  complained  of.  We'  may 
remark  that  the  same  "  Postscript "  as  in  that  of 
"  American  Notes "  is  affixed  to  the  "  Charles 
Dickens  Edition  "  of  "  Martin  Chuzzlewit." 

Blackwood  affirmed  that  "  Pecksniff  owed  much  of 
his  celebrity,  we  believe,  to  his  remarkable  likeness 
to  the  late  Sir  Robert  Peel."  "The  American  Pub- 
lisher's Circular,"  in  the  summer  of  1857,  stating 
that  Mr.  Samuel  Carter  Hall  was  about  to  visit  the 
United  States,  to  deliver  a  series  of  lectures,  impu- 
dently alluded  to  Mr.  Hall  as  being  "  the  original  of 
Dickens's  character,"  and  suggested  that  if  he  (Mr. 
Hall)  wished  to  draw  well,  he  should  advertise  himself 
as  "  the  original  Pecksniff." 

Lord  Lytton,  in  the  preface  to  "  Night  and  Morn- 
ing," says  : — "  In  this  work  I  have  sought  to  lift  the 
mask  from  the  timid  selfishness  which  too  often 
bears  with  us  the  name  of  Respectability.  Purposely 
avoiding  all  attraction  that  may  savour  of  extrava- 
gance, patiently  subduing  every  tone  and  every  hue 


1843.]  *' MARTIN  CHUZZLEWIT."  131 

to  the  aspect  of  those  whom  we  meet  daily  in  our 
thoroughfares,  I  have  shown  in  Robert  Beaufort  the 
man  of  decorous  phrase  and  bloodless  action — the 
systematic  self-server — in  whom  the  world  forgives 
the  lack  of  all  that  is  generous,  warm,  and  noble,  in 
order  to  respect  the  passive  acquiescence  in  metho- 
dical conventions  and  hollow  forms.  And  how 
common  such  men  are  with  us  in  this  century,  and 
how  inviting  and  how  necessary  their  delineation, 
may  be  seen  in  this, — that  the  popular  and  pre- 
eminent Observer  of  the  age  in  which  we  live,  has 
since  placed  their  prototype  in  vigorous  colours  upon 
imperishable  canvass.  Need  I  say  that  I  allude  to 
the  *  Pecksniff '  of  Mr.  Dickens  ?" 

The  main  object  of  "  Martin  Chuzzlewit "  was  to 
call  attention  to  the  system  of  ship-hospitals,  and  to 
workhouse  nurses  ;  and,  as  types  of  the  latter,  Sarah 
Gamp,  with  the  no  less  immortal,  though  invisible, 
Mrs.  Harris,  and  Betsy  Prig,  are  inimitable.  Speaking 
of  the  former,  a  writer  said  : — 

"  She  is,  with  a  vengeance, 
'  The  grave,  conceited  nurse,  of  office  proud  !  * 

"  coarse,  greedy,  inhuman,  jovial ; — prowling  about 
young  wives  with  a  leer,  and  old  men  with  a  look 
that  would  fain  'lay  them  out.'  Ready  at  every 
festivity  '  to  put  the  bottle  to  her  lips,'  and  at  every 
calamity,  to  squat  down  and  find  in  it  her  own 
account  of  pickled  salmon  and  cucumber, — and 
crutched  up  in  a  sort  of  sham  sympathy  and  zeal, 

I  2 


132  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1S43. 

by  the  perpetual  praises  administered  to  herself  by 
that  Eidolon,  Mrs.  Harris — there  are  not  many  things 
of  their  kind  so  living  in  fiction  as  this  night-mare. 
The  touch  of  exaggeration  in  her  dialect  is  so  skil- 
fully distributed  everywhere,  that  we  lose  the  sense 
of  it  as  we  read. " 

Sydney  Smith,  delighted  at  the  manner  in  which 
the  Americans  were  pasquinaded,  sent  him  these 
familiar  notes  on  the  merits  of  the  book  : — 

"  You  have  been  so  used  to  such  impertinences 
that  I  believe  you  will  excuse  me  for  saying  how  very 
much  pleased  I  am  with  the  first  number  of  your 
new  work.  PecksnifT  and  his  daughters,  and  Pinch, 
are  admirable — quite  first-rate  painting,  such  as  no 
one  but  yourself  can  execute. 

"  I  did  not  like  your  genealogy  of  the  Chuzzlewits, 
and  I  must  wait  a  little  to  see  how  Martin  turns  out. 
I  am  impatient  for  the  next  number. 

"  Pray  come  and  see  me  next  summer ;  and  believe 
me  ever  yours, 

"Sydney  Smith. 

"P.S. — Chuffey  is  admirable.  I  have  never  read  a 
finer  piece  of  writing ;  it  is  deeply  pathetic  and 
affecting.  Your  last  number  is  excellent.  Don't 
give  yourself  the  trouble  to  answer  my  impertinent 
eulogies,  only  excuse  them." 

Then,  again,  under  date  July  12th,  1843,  i^  ^^' 
knowledgment  of  a  call  from  Dickens,  and  after 
the  receipt  of  a  new  number  of  "  Martin  Chuzzlewit," 
he  writes : — 


1843.]  ''MARTIN  CHUZZLEWirr  133 

"  Excellent !  nothing  can  be  better !  You  must 
settle  it  with  the  Americans  as  you  can,  but  I  have 
nothing  to  do  with  that.  I  have  only  to  certify  that 
the  number  is  full  of  wit,  humour,  and  power  of 
description. 

"I  am  slowly  recovering  from  an  attack  of  the 
gout  in  the  knee,  and  am  sorry  to  have  missed  you." 

"  Martin  Chuzzlewit  "  was  published  in  a  complete 
form  by  Messrs.  Chapman  and  Hall,  and  dedicated 
to  Miss  Burdett  Coutts.  Poor  Tom  Pinch  claims  our 
best  sympathy ;  the  boy  Bailey,  Pecksniff,  and  his 
chaste  daughters,  Montague  Tigg,  Mark  Tapley,  and 
Mrs.  Lupin,  and  the  Chuzzlewits,  old  and  young,  are 
all  admirably  sketched.  The  American  characters, 
Jefferson  Brick  (war  correspondent),  Scadder,  Colonel 
Diver,  and  Hannibal  Chollop,  are  fine  food  for 
mirth. 

The  most  melodramatic  portion  is  the  murder  of 
Tigg  by  Jonas  Chuzzlewit.  The  disguise  and  pre- 
paration— the  history  of  the  individual  mind  of  the 
murderer — the  steps  by  which  he  descends — and  the 
minute  particulars  which  the  over-wrought  brain  of 
Jonas  catches  up  to  use  for  his  horrible  purpose  (wit- 
ness the  conversation  with  the  Doctor),  are  splendid 
examples  of  observation  and  intuition,  and  as  true 
as  nature  itself;  and  the  defeat  and  final  extirpation 
of  selfishness  in  the  heart  of  the  hero,  Martin,  point 
a  most  valuable  moral.  The  heroine  is,  however, 
weak,  and  sinks  into  insignificance  by  the  side  of 
charmincr  little  Ruth  Pinch. 


134  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS,  [1843. 

Remaining  true  to  the  resolve  contained  in  his 
letter  to  the  Athcncsum,  the  numbers  were  simulta- 
neously published  here  and  in  America,  Messrs. 
Harper  Brothers,  by  arrangement,  being  furnished 
with  a  duplicate  copy  of  each  number,  thereby 
enabling  them  to  forestall  the  other  American 
publishers. 

A  good  melodramatic  version  was  produced  at 
the  Lyceum,  Mr.  Robert  Keeley  enacting  Sairey 
Gamp ;  Mr.  Emery,  Jonas ;  Frank  Matthews,  Peck- 
sniff; Miss  Woolgar  and  Mrs.  Keeley,  Mercy  and 
Bailey. 

Very  recently,  in  March,  1868,  Mr.  Horace  Wigan's 
adaptation  at  the  Olympic  met  with  considerable 
success,  Mr.  J.  Clarke  sustaining  the  part  of  Mrs. 
Gamp. 

Douglas  Jerrold  this  summer  (1843),  occupying  a 
cottage  near  Heme  Bay,  wrote  to  Dickens,  inviting 
him  to  come  and  see  him.  The  following  is  an  ex- 
tract from  his  rejoinder  : — 

"Heme  Bay.  Hum!  I  suppose  it  is  no  worse 
than  any  other  place  in  this  weather ;  but  it  is  watery, 
rather,  isn't  it  .-*  In  my  mind's  eye,  I  have  the  sea 
in  a  perpetual  state  of  smallpox,  and  the  chalk 
running  downhill  like  town  milk.  But  I  know  the 
comfort  of  getting  to  work  in  a  fresh  place,  and  pro- 
posing pious  projects  to  oneself,  and  having  the  more 
substantial  advantage  of  going  to  bed  early,  and 
getting  up  ditto,  and  walking  about  alone.  If  there 
were  a  fine  day,   I  should  like  to   deprive   you  of 


1843]  ''MARTIN  CHUZZLEWirr  135 

the  last-named  happiness,  and  take  a  good  long 
stroll." 

During  the  year,  at  the  inauguration  of  the  Man- 
chester Athenaeum,  he  made  an  admirable  speech — 
his  longest  effort  up  to  this  time — on  the  importance 
and  usefulness  of  Mechanics'  Institutes.  * 

After  the  publication  of  "  Oliver  Twist "  and 
"  Martin  Chuzzlewit,"  Dickens's  friends  were  con- 
tinually reporting  to  him  cases  of  cruelty  and  hard- 
ship, and  begging  his  attention  thereto.  In  answer 
to  one  of  these  philanthropic  appeals,  Dickens  wrote 
— he  was  at  that  time  living  in  Devonshire  terrace : — 

"  That  is  a  very  horrible  case  you  tell  me  of.  I 
would  to  God  I  could  get  at  the  parental  heart  of 

,  in  which  event  I  would  so  scarify  it,  that 

he  should  writhe  again.  But  if  I  were  to  put  such  a 
father  as  he  into  a  book,  all  the  fathers  going  (and 
especially  the  bad  ones)  would  hold  up  their  hands 
and  protest  against  the  unnatural  caricature.  I  find 
that  a  great  many  people  (particularly  those  who 
might  have  sat  for  the  character)  consider  even 
Mr.  Pecksniff  a  grotesque  impossibility ;  and  Mrs. 
Nickleby  herself,  sitting  bodily  before  me  in  a  solid 
chair,  once  asked  me  whether  I  really  believed  there 
was  such  a  woman. 

"  So  ,  reviewing  his  own  case,  would  not  be- 
lieve in  Jonas  Chuzzlewit.  *  I  like  "  Oliver  Twist,"  * 
says ,  *  for  I  am  fond  of  children.     But  the  book 

*  Given  in  Charles  Dickens's  Speeches,  recently  published. 


136  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1843. 

is  unnatural.  For  who  would  think  of  being  cruel  to 
poor  little  Oliver  Twist  ? ' 

"Nevertheless  I  will  bear  the  dog  in  my  mind. 
And  if  I  can  hit  him  between  the  o.y^'^i  so  that  he 
shall  stagger  more  than  you  or  I  have  done  this 
Christmas  under  the  combined  effects  of  punch  and 
turkey — I  will. 

"  Thank  you  cordially  for  your  note.  Excuse  this 
scrap  of  paper.  I  thought  it  was  a  whole  sheet, 
until  I  turned  over."* 

The  reader  will  remember  Macllse's  beautiful  por- 
trait of  Dickens,  familiar  to  us  all  as  the  engraved 
frontispiece  to  the  large  edition  of  "  Nicholas  Nic- 
kleby."  It  is  the  portrait  of  a  literary  exquisite 
thirty  years  ago  ;  and  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  those 
large  effeminate  eyes  sparkling  from  beneath  flowing 
locks,  that  ample  black  satin  scarf,  with  a  diamond 
union-pin,  and  that  wide  velvet  collar,  can  have  any- 
thing to  do  with  the  hearty,  keen-eyed,  sailor-like 
man  whose  last  photographs  now  look  at  us  from 
every  shop-window  !  But  it  is  so  !  they  are  the  por- 
traits of  the  same  great  man.  Time  alone  has 
worked  the  change.  Of  his  elegant  appearance, 
when  young,  Mr.  Arthur  Locker  gives  us  a  remi- 
niscence : — "  The  first  time,"  he  says,  "  I  saw  the 
idolized  Boz  in  the  flesh  was  at  a  Fancy  Fair  in  the 
Painted  Hall  of  Greenwich   Hospital,  held,  I  think, 

•   *  The  letter  was  dated  "  Second  January,  1 844."    It  was 

published  in  the  Autographic  Mirror  for  February,  1864. 


i843-]  "MARTIN  CHUZZLEWIT."  137 

for  the  benefit  of  the  Shipwrecked  Mariners'  Society. 
He  was  then  a  handsome  young  man,  with  piercing 
bright  eyes  and  carefully  arranged  hair — much,  in 
fact,  as  he  is  represented  in  Maclise's  picture." 

Towards  the  close  of  this  year  another  charac- 
teristic portrait  of  our  author  was  taken  by  Miss  M. 
Gillies,  and  a  fine  engraving  of  it,  by  Armytage,  ap- 
peared as  a  frontispiece  to  Home's  "  New  Spirit  of 
the  Age,"  issued  early  in  the  new  year.  It  is  different 
to  the  Maclise  picture ;  the  hair  is  longer  and  more 
careless,  the  face  is  more  thoughtful,  the  mouth 
firmer — in  fact,  there  is  less  of  the  exquisite  and 
more  of  the  man  about  it  than  in  the  MacHse  por- 
trait taken  four  years  before. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE   "CHRISTMAS  CAROL." 


^IS  next  work  was  that  delightful  little  book 


— a  better-hearted  one  never  issued  from  the 
press — "  A  Christmas  Carol,  in  prose ;  being 
a  Ghost  Story  of  Christmas."  It  appeared  in  De- 
cember, 1843,  with  some  admirable  illustrations  by 
John  Leech.  Since  the  publication  of  the  "  Pickwick 
Papers,"  no  work  of  Dickens's  caused  half  the  sensa- 
tion this  touching  and  beautiful  little  story  did.  It  is 
written  with  such  a  hearty  appreciation  of  Christmas, 
and  all  the  attendant  festivities  indulged  in  at  that 
joyous  period.  The  description  of  Scrooge  is  wonder- 
fully drawn  ;  his  excitement  in  waking  up  after  his 
interviews  with  the  spirits,  and  finding  it  all  a  dream, 
his  getting  up  and  nearly  cutting  his  nose  off  in 
shaving,  buying  the  big  turkey,  and  sending  it  off  to 
Bob  Cratchit,  with  a  series  of  chuckles,  and  giving  so 
handsome  a  donation  to  the  collector,  and  finally 
going  to  the  party  at  Fred's,  where  that  fine  fellow 
Topper  and  the  plump  sister  played  up  such  grand 
tricks,  and  then  behaving  so  unexpectedly  to  poor 
Bob  the  next  day, — follow  so  rapidly  as  almost  to 
take  one's  breath  away  with  amazement  and  delight ! 


i843-]  THE   "CHRISTMAS  CAROL."  139 

If  any  individual  story  ever  warmed  a  Christmas 
hearth,  that  was  the  one  ;  if  ever  soHtary  Old-Self 
was  converted  by  a  book,  and  made  to  be  merry  and 
childlike  at  that  season  "Avhen  its  blessed  founder 
was  himself  a  child,"  he  surely  was  by  that ! 

On  a  former  page  we  spoke  of  Thackeray's 
hearty  appreciation  of  Dickens  —  expressed,  too, 
at  a  time  when  the  "Vanity  Fair"  had  made  its 
writer's  fame.  It  has  been  said  that  a  degree 
of  rivalry  at  one  period  existed  between  the  two 
authors  ;  but  few  readers,  we  think,  will  be  in- 
clined to  characterize  by  any  such  term  the  most 
friendly  competition  after  perusing  this  touching  and 
beautiful  tribute*  to  Mr.  Dickens's  genius  from  the 
pen  of  the  yet  unknown  Michael  Angelo  Titmarsh. 
A  box  of  Christmas  books  is  supposed  to  have  been 
sent  by  the  editor  to  Titmarsh  in  his  retirement  in 
Switzerland,  whence  the  latter  writes  his  notions  of 
their  contents.  The  last  book  of  all  is  Mr.  Dickens's 
"  Christmas  Carol " — we  mean  the  story  of  old 
Scrooge — the  immortal  precursor  of  that  long  line  of 
Christmas  stories  which  are  now  so  familiar  to  his 
readers. 

"  And  now  (says  the  critic),  there  is  but  one  book 
left  in  the  box,  the  smallest  one,  but  oh  !  how  much 
the  best  of  all.  It  Is  the  work  of  the  master  of  all 
the  English  humourists  now  alive  ;  the  young  man 
who  came  and  took  his  place  calmly  at  the  head  of 
the  whole  tribe,  and  who  has  kept  it.  Think  of  all 
*  It  appeared  in  Fraser's  Magazine^  for  July,  1 844. 


140  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1843. 

v/e  owe  Mr.  Dickens  since  those  half  dozen  years, 

that  store  of  happy  hours  that  he  has  made  us  pass, 

the  kindly  and  pleasant  companions  whom  he  has 

introduced  to  us  ;  the  harmless  laughter,  the  generous 

wit,  the   frank,   manly,   human   love  which  he  has 

taught  us  to  feel !     Every  month  of  those  years  has 

brought   us   some  kind   token   from   this   delightful 

genius.     His  books  may  have  lost  in  art,  perhaps, 

but  could  we  afford  to  v/ait  ?     Since  the  days  when 

the  Spectator  was  produced  by  a  man  of  kindred 

mind  and  temper,  what  books  have  appeared  that 

have   taken  so   affectionate   a  hold  of  the  English 

public  as  these  ? 

****** 

"Who  can  listen  to  objections  regarding  such  a 
book  as  this?  It  seems  to  me  a  national  benefit, 
and,  to  every  man  or  woman  who  reads  it,  a  personal 
kindness.  The  last  two  people  I  heard  speak  of 
it  were  women ;  neither  knew  the  other,  or  the 
author,  and  both  said,  by  way  of  criticism,  *  God 
bless  him ! ' 

"As  for  Tiny  Tim,  there  is  a  certain  passage  in 
the  book  regarding  that  young  gentleman,  about 
which  a  man  should  hardly  venture  to  speak  in 
print  or  in  public,  any  more  than  he  would  of  any 
other  affections  of  his  private  heart.  There  is  not 
a  reader  in  EnG:land  but  that  little  creature  will  be 
a  bond  of  union  between  author  and  him  ;  and  he 
will  say  of  Charles  Dickens,  as  the  woman  just 
now,  *  God  bless  him ! '     What  a  feeling  is  this  for 


iS43-]  THE   "  CHRISTMAS   CAROL."  141 

a  writer  to  be  able  to  Inspire,  and  what  a  reward  to 
reap  ! " 

Let  the  reader  call  to  mind  the  book  itself,  and 
then  he  will  appreciate  the  warmth  and  exuberance 
of  good  feeling  reflected  In  the  following  letter  to  Its 
author  by  Lord  Jeffrey  : — "  Blessings  on  your  kind 
heart,  my  dear  Dickens,  and  may  It  always  be  as  full 
and  as  light  as  It  Is  kind,  and  a  fountain  of  kindness  to 
all  within  reach  of  Its  beatings.  We  are  all  charmed 
with  your  '  Carol  ; '  chiefly,  I  think,  for  the  genuine 
goodness  which  breathes  all  through  It,  and  is  the 
true  inspiring  angel  by  which  its  genius  has  been 
awakened.  The  whole  scene  of  the  Cratchlts  Is  like 
the  dream  of  a  beneficent  angel,  In  spite  of  its  broad 
reality,  and  little  Tiny  Tim  in  life  and  death  almost 

as  sweet  and  as  touching  as  Nelly 

Well,  to  be  sure,  you  should  be  happy  yourself ;  for 
you  may  be  sure  you  have  done  more  good,  and  not 
only  fastened  more  kindly  feelings,  but  prompted 
more  positive  acts  of  benevolence,  by  this  little  pub- 
lication, than  can  be  traced  to  all  the  pulpits  and 
confessionals  since  Christmas,  1842."* 

Sydney  Smith,  too,  a  few  weeks  afterwards 
■wrrote  : — "  Many  thanks  for  the  '  Christmas  Carol,' 
which  I  shall  immediately  proceed  upon,  in  pre- 
ference to  six  American  pamphlets  I  found  upon  my 
arrival,  all  promising  Immediate  payment !  "  *[- 

In  a  criticism  in  Hood's  Magazine,  a  similar  senti- 

*  Edinburgh,  Dec.  26,  1843. 
t  London,  21st  Feb.,  1844. 


142  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [184-^ 

ment  to  that  contained  in  Lord  Jeffrey's  letter 
occurs  : — "  This  book  will  do  more  to  spread  Chris- 
tian feeling  than  ten  thousand  pulpits !  " 

And  in  another  article  the  same  writer — the  kindly 
Thomas  Hood  himself — says  : — "  It  was  a  blessed 
inspiration  that  put  such  a  book  into  the  head  of 
Charles  Dickens — a  happy  inspiration  of  the  heart, 
that  warms  every  page.  It  is  impossible  to  read, 
without  a  glowing  bosom  and  burning  cheeks,  between 
love  and  shame  for  our  kind,  with  perhaps  a  little 
touch  of  misgiving,  whether  we  are  not  personally 
open,  a  crack  or  so,  to  the  reproach  of  Wordsworth," — 

** '  The  world  is  too  much  with  us,  early  and  late. 
Getting  and  spending.'  *' 

Men  of  very  different  natures  to  Thomas  Hood 
read  of  Little  Nell,  and  were  touched.  It  is  told  of 
Daniel  O'Connell,  the  great  Irish  agitator,  that, 
riding  with  a  friend  one  day,  and  reading  the  then 
recently  issued  book  where  the  death  of  Little  Nell 
is  recorded,  the  great  orator's  eyes  filled  with  tears, 
and  he  sobbed  aloud, — 

"  He  should  not  have  killed  her ! — ^he  should  not 
have  killed  her !  She  was  too  good  ! "  and  so  he 
threw  the  book  out  of  the  windov/,  unable  to  read 
more,  and  indignant  that  the  author  should  have 
immolated  a  heroine  in  death. 

The  story  was  dramatized  and  played  at  several 
theatres,  the  Adelphi,  as  usual,  taking  the  lead  in 
making  the  tale  popular.    It  was  about  this  time  that 


I844-]  THE   ''CHRISTMAS  CAROL."  143 

Dickens  resorted  to  the  Court  of  Chancery  for  an 
injunction  against  the  printer  and  four  pubUshers  of 
"  Parley's  Illuminated  Library  "  for  piracy. 

Mr.  Dickens  had  now  two  sons — the  last  being  born 
during  the  progress  of  "  Martin  Chuzzlewit."  Early  in 
the  new  year,  it  was  decided  upon  christening  the 
second  boy,  and  the  name  Francis  Jeffrey — after  that 
of  a  true  and  tried  friend — was  determined  upon.  A 
letter  of  the  latter,  dated  ist  February,  1844,  in 
answer  to  the  half-serious,  half-jocular  proposal  of 
Dickens,  says  : — "  About  that  most  flattering,  or 
more  probably  passing,  fancy  of  that  dear  Kate 
(Mrs.  Dickens)  of  yours  to  associate  my  name  with 
yours  over  the  baptismal  font  of  your  new-come  boy, 
my  first  impression  was  that  it  was  a  mere  piece  of 
kind  badinage  of  hers  (or  perhaps  your  own),  and  not 
meant  to  be  seriously  taken,  and,  consequently,  that 

it  would  be  foolish  to  take  any  notice  of  it 

If  such  a  thing  be  indeed  in  your  contemplation,  it 
would  be  more  flattering  and  agreeable  to  me  than 
most  things  which  have  happened  to  me  in  my  moral 
pilgrimage ;  while,  if  it  was  but  the  expression  of  a 
happy  and  confiding  playfulness,  I  shall  still  feel 
grateful  for  the  communication,  and  return  you  a 
smile  as  cordial  as  your  own,  with  full  permission  for 
both  of  you  to  smile  at  the  simplicity  which  could  not 

distinguish  jest  from  earnest I  want 

amazingly  to  see  you  rich,  and  independent  of  all  irk- 
some exertions  ;  and  really  if  you  go  on  having  more 
boys  (and  naming  them  after  poor  Scotch  plebeians). 


144  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1844. 

you  must  make  good  bargains  and  lucky  hits,  and, 
above  all,  accommodate  yourself  oftener  to  that  deeper 
and  higher  tone  of  human  feeling,  which,  you  7iow  see 
experimentally,  is  more  surely  and  steadily  popular 
than  any  display  of  fancy,  or  magical  power  of 
observation  and  description  combined.  And  so  God 
be  with  you  and  yours,"  &c. 

The  last  part  of  the  letter  alludes,  no  doubt,  to  the 
profits  of  the  "  Christmas  Carol,"  the  sale  of  which  was 
very  large.  Jeffrey  knew  how  few  authors  possessed 
sufficient  worldly  wisdom  to  keep  a  balance  at  their 
bankers',  and  gave  his  young  friend  a  delicate  hint  to 
*'be  careful  and  save."  This  was  not  the  only  time  Lord 
Jeffrey  quietly  lectured  his  correspondent.  Three  years 
later,  in  1847,  we  get  this  piece  of  practical — shall  we 
say  Northern — advice  i* — "  I  am  rather  "  (he  writes  in 
1847) "  disappointed  to  find  your  embankment "  (doubt- 
lessly a  fund  of  future  provision)  "  still  so  small.  But  it 
is  a  great  thing  that  you  have  made  a  beginning,  and 
laid  a  foundation,  and  you  are  young  enough  to  think 
of  living  yet  many  years  under  the  proud  roof  of  the 
completed  structure,  which  even  I  expect  to  see  ascend- 
ing in  its  grandeur.  But  when  I  consider  that  the 
public  has,  upon  moderate  computation,  paid  at  least 
^100,000  for  your  works  (and  had  a  good  bargain, 
too,  for  the   money),  I  think  it  is  rather  provoking 

to  think  that  the  author  should  not  now  have 

in  bank,  and  never  have  received,  I  suspect,  above 

.     There  must  have  been  some  mismanagement, 

I  think,  as  well  as  ill-luck,  to  have  occasioned  this 


1844.]  THE   *'  CHRISTMAS  CAROW  .145 

result — not  extravagance  on  your  part,  my  dear 
Dickens,  nor  even  excessive  beneficence — but  im- 
provident arrangements  with  publishers,  and  too  care- 
less a  control  over  their  proceedings.  But  you  are 
wiser  now,  and,  with  Forster's  kind  and  judicious 
help,  will  soon  redeem  the  effect  of  your  not  un- 
generous errors." 

It  is  not  generally  known  that  Dickens  contributed 
an  article  to  Hood's  Magazine  a7id  Comic  Miscellany 
in  May,  1844.  Our  author  had  received  some  kind- 
nesses at  the  hands  of  the  humourist,  and  in  recogni- 
tion of  them  he  sent  a  paper  entitled  "  Threatening 
Letter  to  Thomas  Hood,  from  an  Ancient  Gentleman, 
by  favour  of  Charles  Dickcjis!'  to  his  friend's  magazine. 
Speaking  of  the  manner  of  some  complaining  old 
gentlemen,  the  writer  of  the  letter  tried  to  find  fault 
with  everything  modern  : — 

**  Mr.  Hood,  Sir.  ....  Ah  !  governments 
were  governments,  and  judges  were  judges  in  my 
day,  Mr.  Hood.  There  was  no  nonsense  then.  Any 
of  your  seditious  complainings,  and  we  were  ready 
with  the  military  on  the  shortest  notice.  We  should 
have  charged  Covent  Garden  Theatre,  sir,  on  a 
Wednesday  night,  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 
Then,  the  judges  were  full  of  dignity  and  firmness, 
and  knew  how  to  administer  the  law. 

"  There  is  only  one  judge  who  knows  how  to  do  his 
duty  now.  He  tried  that  revolutionary  female  the 
other  day,  who,  though  she  was  in  full  work  (making 
shirts  at  three-halfpence  a-piece),  had  no  pride  in  her 

IC 


146  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1844. 

country,  but  treasonably  took  it  into  her  head,  in  the 
distraction  of  having  been  robbed  of  her  easy  earn- 
ings, to  attempt  to  drown  herself  and  her  young 
child,  and  the  glorious  man  went  out  of  his  way,  sir 
— out  of  his  way — to  call  her  up  for  instant  sentence 
of  death,  and  to  tell  her  she  had  no  hope  of  mercy 
in  this  world — as  you  may  see  yourself  if  you  look 
in  the  papers  of  Wednesday,  the  17th  of  April." 

It  is  curious,  after  this  allusion  to  Mr.  Laing,  the 
notorious  police  magistrate — said  to  be  the  Fang 
of  "Oliver  Twist" — and  after  mentioning  the  poor 
distressed  needlewoman,  with  the  allusion  to  Sir 
Peter  Laurie,  that  the  next  article  immediately 
following  should  be  the  first  appearance  of  Hood's 
exquisite  "Bridge  of  Sighs."  On  the  same  page 
with  Dickens's  bitter  and  telling  attack  upon  the 
grumblers  in  power — the  grumblers  who  can  only  see 
national  prosperity  in  the  increasing  misery  of  the 
lower  orders — there  appeared  those  wonderful  lines, 
commencing, — 

"  One  more  Unfortunate, 
Weary  of  breath. 
Rashly  importunate. 
Gone  to  her  death !  " 

as  if  suggested  by  the  poor  female  whom  Dickens 
had  just  described  as  being  brought  before  the  magis- 
trate for  an  attempt  to  commit  suicide. 

In  May,  1844,  he  presided  at  the  Annual  Conver- 
sazione of  the  Polytechnic  Institution  in  Birming- 
ham, and  made  a  most  telling  speech.     Writing,  soon 


jS44]  THE  "CHRISTMAS  CAROL:'  147 

after,  to  Jerrold — who  was  very  nervous  in  address- 
ing an  assembly — he  said  :  "  Is  your  modesty  a  con- 
firmed habit,  or  could  you  prevail  upon  yourself,  if 
you  are  moderately  well,  to  let  me  call  you  up  for  a 
word  or  two  at  the  Sanatorium  Dinner  ?  There  are 
some  men  (excellent  men)  connected  with  that  insti- 
tution, who  would  take  the  very  strongest  interest  in 
your  doing  so ;  and  do  advise  me,  one  of  these  odd 
days,  that  if  I  can  do  it  well  and  unaffectedly,  I 
may."  Jerrold  overcame  his  bashfulness,  and  pre- 
sided at  the  next  Anniversary. 

A  very  kind  and  graceful  act  was  performed  by 
Dickens  this  year.  Mr.  Newby,  in  July,  published, 
in  one  volume,  "The  Evenings  of  a  Working 
Man.  Being  the  Occupation  of  his  Scanty  Leisure^ 
by  John  Overs.  With  a  Preface,  relating  to  the 
Author,  by  Charles  Dickeiis'^  The  preface  is  of  the 
most  charming  description.  It  first  mentions  that 
Overs  was  a  carpenter,  who  had  employed  his  evenings 
in  literary  compositions,  and  applied  to  him,  as  he 
was  relinquishing  the  editorship  of  Bentlefs  Miscel- 
lany,  for  help  to  get  his  writings  into  notice.  After 
some  correspondence,  Dickens  trying  to  dissuade 
him  from  the  perils  of  authorship,  and  a  personal 
interview,  "he  wrote  me,"  he  says,  "as  manly  and 
straightforward,  but,  withal,  as  modest,  a  letter  as 
ever  I  read  in  my  life.  He  explained  to  me  how 
limited  his  ambition  was,  soaring  no  higher  than  the 
establishment  of  his  wife  in  some  light  business,  and 
the  better  education  of  his  children.      He  set  be- 

K  2 


148  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1844. 

fore  me  the  difference  of  his  evening  and  holiday 
studies,  such  as  they  were,  and  his  having  no  better 
resource  than  an  ale-house  or  a  skittle-ground.'* 
Dickens  accordingly  consented  to  assist  him,  and 
got  several  of  his  pieces  inserted  in  a  magazine. 
*'  During  this  period  neither  hammer,  nor  plane,  nor 
chisel  had  been  laid  aside  for  the  more  enticing  ser- 
vice of  the  pen — literary  compositions  had  neither 
seduced  John  Overs  into  dreams  nor  lamentations 

which  have  damaged  his  peace  of  mind. 

***** 

"  He  is  very  ill ;  the  faintest  shadow  of  the  man 
who  came  into  my  little  study,  for  the  first  time, 
half  a  dozen  years  ago,  after  the  correspondence  I 
have  mentioned.  He  has  been  very  ill  for  a  long 
period  ;  his  disease  is  a  severe  and  wasting  affection 
of  the  lungs,  which  has  incapacitated  him  these 
many  months  for  every  kind  of  occupation.  *  If  I 
could  only  do  a  hard  day's  work,'  he  said  to  me,  the 
other  day,  *  how  happy  I  should  be.' 

"  Having  these  papers  by  him,  am.ongst  others,  he 
bethought  himself  that,  if  he  could  get  a  bookseller 
to  purchase  them  for  publication  in  a  volume,  they 
would  enable  him  to  make  some  temporary  provision 
for  his  sick  wife  and  very  young  family.  We  talked 
the  matter  over  together,  and  that  it  might  be  easier 
of  accomplishment,  I  promised  him  that  I  would 
write  an  introduction  to  his  book. 

"  I  would  to  Heaven  that  I  could  do  him  better 
service ;  I  would  to  Heaven   it  were   an   introduc- 


i844-]  1'tJ^  '*  CHRISTMAS  CAROL."  149 

tion  to  a  long,  and  vigorous,  and  useful  life.  But 
Hope  will  not  trim  her  lamp  the  less  brightly  for  him 
and  his  because  of  this  impulse  to  their  struggling 
fortunes ;  and  trust  me,  reader,  they  deserve  her 
light,  and  need  it  sorely. 

"He  has  inscribed  this  book  to  one*  whose  skill 
will  help  him,  under  Providence,  in  all  that  human 
skill  can  do — to  one  who  never  could  have  recognized 
in  any  potentate  on  earth  a  higher  claim  to  constant 
kindness  and  attention  than  he  has  recognized  in 
him." 

The  book  was  eventually  published  at  5^".,  and  was 
found  to  contain  some  very  creditable  writing,  both 
prose  and  verse.  Overs  did  not  live  long  to  enjoy 
his  popularity,  for  the  malady  under  which  he  was 
labouring  terminated  fatally  the  following  October. 
The  work  and  its  author  are  now  almost  forgotten, 
but  the  generous  conduct  displayed  towards  him  by 
Dickens  is  well  deserving  of  remembrance. 

*  Dr.  Elliotson. 


■§£?!§- 


m 


CHAPTER  XII. 


VISIT  TO  ITALY. — "THE  CHIMES." 

N  the  summer  of  this  year  Dickens  went  to 
Italy.  He  started  off  with  his  wife,  sister- 
in-law,  five  children,  courier,  nurses,  &c., 
and  a  carriage,  and  had  a  very  enjoyable  holiday. 
Previous  to  his  departure,  he  was  entertained  at  a 
dinner  by  his  friends,  at  the  "  Trafalgar,"  Greenwich, 
on  19th  June,  1845,  Lord  Normanby  in  the  chair. 
The  following  extracts  from  his  epistles  to  Jerrold 
give  us  many  pleasing  bits  of  an  autobiographical 
character,  and  at  least  show  us  how  he  enjoyed 
himself : — 

"  Come,  come  and  see  me  in  Italy — let  us  smoke  a 
pipe  among  the  vines.  I  have  taken  a  little  house 
surrounded  by  them,  and  no  man  in  the  world  should 
be  more  welcome  to  it  than  you." 

And  in  another  from  Cremona  : — 

"  It  was  very  hearty  and  good  of  you,  Jerrold,  to 
make  that  affectionate  mention  of  the  *  Carol '  in 
Punch;  and,  I  assure  you,  it  was  not  lost  upon  the 
distant  object  of  your  manly  regard,  but  touched 
him  as  you  wished  and  meant  it  should.  I  wish  we 
had  not  lost  so  much  time  in  improving  our  personal 


1844.]  VISIT  TO  ITALY.  151 

knowledge  of  each  other.  But  I  have  so  steadily- 
read  you,  and  so  selfishly  gratified  myself  in  always 
expressing  the  admiration  with  which  your  gallant 
truths  inspired  me,  that  I  must  not  call  it  lost  time 
either." 

From  the  same  place,  in  November : — 
"  You  rather  entertained  the  idea  once  of  coming 
to  see  me  at  Genoa.  I  shall  return  straight  on  the 
9th  of  December,  limiting  my  stay  in  town  to  one 
week.  Now,  couldn't  you  come  back  with  me }  The 
journey  that  way  is  very  cheap,  costing  little  more 
than  £\2^  and  I  am  quite  sure  the  gratification  to 
you  would  be  high.  I  am  lodged  in  quite  a  wonder- 
ful place,  and  would  put  you  in  a  painted  room  as 
big  as  a  church,  and  much  more  comfortable.  There 
are  pens  and  ink  upon  the  premises ;  orange-trees, 
gardens,  battledores  and  shuttlecocks,  rousing  wood 
fires  for  the  evenings,  and  a  welcome  worth  having. 

Come !     Letter  from  a  gentleman  in   Italy 

to  Bradbury  and  Evans  in  London.  Letter  from  a 
gentleman  in  a  country  gone  to  sleep,  to  a  gentle- 
man in  a  country  that  would  go  to  sleep  too,  and 
never  wake  again,  if  some  people  had  their  way. 
You  can  work  in  Genoa — the  house  is  used  to  it :  it 
is  exactly  a  week's  post.  Have  that  portmanteau 
looked  to  ;  and  when  we  meet,  say,  *  I  am  coming  !*  " 
The  visit  to  Italy  often  formed  a  subject  for  con- 
versation with  Dickens,  and  only  a  few  weeks  before 
his  death,  he  told  Mr.  Arthur  Locker  this  anecdote 
of  his  experiences  there.      **Mr.  Dickens,  on  one 


152  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1844. 

occasion,  visited  a  certain  monastery,  and  was  con- 
ducted over  the  building  by  a  young  monk,  who, 
though  a  native  of  the  country,  spoke  remarkably 
fluent  English.  There  was,  however,  one  peculiarity 
about  his  pronunciation.  He  frequently  misplaced 
his  v's  and  w's.  *  Have  you  been  in  England  ?  * 
asked  Mr.  Dickens.  *  No,'  replied  the  monk,  '  I  have 
learnt  my  English  from  this  book,*  producing  *  Pick- 
wick ;'  and  it  further  appeared  that  he  had  selected 
Mr.  Samuel  Weller  as  the  beau  ideal  of  elegant  pro- 
nunciation." 

**  The  Chimes  :  a  Goblin  Story  of  some  Bells  that 
Rang  an  Old  Year  out  and  a  New  Year  in,"  was 
published  at  the  end  of  the  year,  by  Messrs.  Chap- 
man and  Hall,  illustrated  by  Maclise,  Doyle,  Leech, 
and  Stanfield.  It  was  of  the  same  size  and  price  as 
the  former  Christmas  book ;  but,  instead  of  being 
illustrated  by  Mr.  Leech  alone,  several  Academicians 
and  other  artists  had  now  come  forward  with  their 
pencils.  The  great  success  of  the  *'  Christmas 
Carol,"  in  the  preceding  year,  had  directed  the 
attention  of  other  authors  to  this  class  of  literature, 
and  this  Christmas  there  appeared  *'The  Snow 
Storm,"  by  Mrs.  Gore  ;  •'  Jhe  Last  of  the  Fairies," 
by  G.  P.  R.  James  ;  an  Irish  Story,  by  Mr.  Lever ; 
and  others ;  but  we  need  hardly  say  Mr.  Dickens 
distanced  them  all. 

Next  to  the  *'  Christmas  Carol,"  it  is  one  of  the 
most  delightful  little  books  he  has  written.  Old 
Toby    Veck,    the    patient,    drudging    ticket-porter, 


1844.]  *'THE   CHIMES."  153 

plying  his  vocation  near  the  old  church,  listening 
to  the  voices  of  the  bells,  and  gathering  encourage- 
ment from  them,  is  a  beautifully  drawn  character. 
Meg,  his  daughter,  a  hopeful  woman,  and  Richard, 
her  sweetheart,  are  truthfully  portrayed,  as  also  Will 
Fern,  Sir  Joshua  Bowley,  Mr.  Filer,  and  Alderman 
Cute.  The  plot  is  worked  out  somewhat  after  the 
plan  of  the  "  Christmas  Carol,"  consisting  mainly  of 
a  dream  by  Toby  Veck.  Every  one  ought  to  be  well 
pleased  with  the  finale,  in  which  Toby  disappears 
from  notice  in  a  country  dance  to  the  step  he  is  so 
accustomed  to — a  Trot. 

Thomas  Hood,  who  had  written  so  beautifully  of 
the  "  Christmas  Carol,"  could  not  refrain  from 
expressing  in  print  a  like  admiration  for  "  The 
Chimes": — "This,"  he  wrote,  "is  another  of  those 
seasonable  books  intended  by  Boz  to  stir  up  and 
awaken  the  kindly  feelings  which  are  generally  dif- 
fused amongst  mankind,  but  too  apt,  as  old  Weller 
says,  to  lie  *  dormouse '  in  the  human  bosom.  It  is 
similar  in  plan  to  the  '  Christmas  Carol,'  but  is  scarcely 
so  happy  in  its  subject — it  could  not  be — as  that 
famous  Gobbling  Story,  with  its  opulence  of  good 
cheer,  and  all  the  Gargantuan  festivity  of  that  hos- 
pitable tide.  The  hero  of  the  tale  is  one  Toby  Veck 
(we  wish  that  surname  had  been  more  English  in 
its  sound,  it  seems  to  want  an  outlandish  De  or 
Van  before  it),  a  little  old  London  ticket-porter, 
—who  does  not  know  the  original  1 — and  his  hum- 
ble dwelling  down  the  mews,  with  his  wooden  card- 


154  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1844. 

board  at  the  door,  with  his  name  and  occupation, 
and  the 

^ N.B. — Messuages  carefully  delivered!* 
May  *  The  Chimes/ "  Tom  Hood  concludes,  "  be 
widely  and  wisely  heard,  inculcating  their  wholesome 
lessons  of  charity  and  forbearance,  reminding  wealth 
of  the  claims  of  want — the  feasting  of  the  fasting, 
and  inducing  them  to  spare  something  for  an  aching 
void  from  their  comfortable  repletion." 

Having  alluded  to  the  administration  of  the  law 
by  Mr.  Laing,  the  Clerkenwell  magistrate,  in  "  Oliver 
Twist,"  under  the  character  of  Mr.  Fang,  likewise 
to  the  notorious  Sir  Peter  Laurie,  in  "  The  Chimes," 
as  Alderman  Cute,  the  talk  about  "putting 
down "  various  little  wants,  cares,  and  troubles 
of  the  poor  being  merely  a  transcript  of  what  the 
garrulous  old  City  magistrate  had  said  from  the 
bench,  "  Particularly  well,"  says  one  who  had  heard 
him,  "do  we  recollect  a  promise  made  by  that 
officious  personage,  *  dressed  in  a  little  brief  autho- 
rity,' to  a  starved  and  maddened  woman,  who  had 
attempted  to  drown  herself,  that  he  (Sir  Peter 
Laurie)  would ///^f  down  suicide  T  The  alderman  did 
not  forget  the  attack  made  upon  him,  and  when  he 
found  an  opportunity,  which  he  did  shortly,  ridiculed 
Mr.  Dickens's  description  of  Jacob's  Island  in 
"Oliver  Twist,"  and  denied  in  full  court  the  exist- 
ence, as  described,  of  that  locality,  and  of  the  Folly 
Ditch  ;  but  the  author  was  again  too  strong  for  the 
alderman,  and  in  his  preface  to  the  new  edition  of 


x844.]  *'THE  CHIMES."  155 

the  tale  he  incidentally  mentions  the  fact,  and  denies, 
in  his  turn,  the  existence  of  Sir  Peter  Laurie  ! 

Jerrold,  we  may  remark,  under  the  initial  of 
"Q.,"  often  scarified  the  alderman  in  the  pages  of 
Punch. 

As  a  drama  "  The  Chimes  "  became  very  popular, 
the  Adelphi  performing  on  19th  December  a  version 
adapted  with  some  skill  by  Messrs.  Mark  Lemon  and 
Gilbert  A'Beckett,  Mr.  Wright  sustaining  the  part  of 
Alderman  Cute,  and  Paul  Bedford  Sir  Joshua  Bowley. 
The  Lyceum  had  an  admirable  dramatic  version,  Mr. 
Keeley's  Toby  Veck  being  a  most  life-like  portrait  of 
Dickens's  happy  original. 

Writing  from  Milan,  in  November,  1844,  to  the 
Countess  of  Blessington,  we  learn  how  this  beautiful 
little  work  was  composed : — 

"  Since  I  heard  from  Count  D'Orsay,  I  have  been 
beset  in  I  don't  know  how  many  ways.  First  of  all, 
I  went  to  Marseilles,  and  came  back  to  Genoa.  Then 
I  went  to  the  Peschiere.  Then  some  people  who  had 
been  present  at  the  Scientific  Congress  here,  made  a 
sudden  inroad  on  that  establishment  and  over-ran  it. 
Then  they  went  away,  and  I  shut  myself  up  for  one 
month,  close  and  tight,  over  my  little  Christmas 
book,  '  The  Chimes.'  All  my  affections  and  passions 
got  twined  and  knotted  in  it,  and  I  became  as 
haggard  as  a  murderer,  long  before  I  had  wrote 
*The  End.'  When  I  had  done  that,  like  ^  The  man 
of  Thessaly,'  who  having  scratched  his  eyes  out  in 
a  quickset  hedge,  plunged  into  a  bramble-bush  to 


156  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1844. 

scratch  them  in  again,  I  fled  to  Venice,  to  recover 
the  composure  I  had  disturbed.  From  thence  I 
went  to  Verona  and  to  Mantua.  And  now  I  am  here 
— just  come  up  from  underground,  and  earthy  all 
over,  from  seeing  that  extraordinary  tomb  in  which 
the  Dead  Saint  lies  in  an  alabaster  case,  with 
sparkling  jewels  all  about  him  to  mock  his  dusty 
eyes,  not  to  mention  the  twenty-franc  pieces  which 
devout  votaries  were  ringing  down  upon  a  sort  of 
skylight  in  the  Cathedral  pavement  above,  as  if  it 

were  the  counter    of   his    Heavenly  shop 

Old  is    a    trifle    uglier    than    when   I   first 

arrived.  He  has  periodical  parties,  at  which 
there  are  a  great  many  flower-pots  and  a  few  ices — 
no  other  refreshments.  He  goes  about  continu- 
ally with  extemporaneous  poetry ;  and  is  always 
ready,  like  tavern-dinners,  on  the  shortest  notice 
and  the  most  reasonable  terms.  He  keeps  a 
gigantic  harp  in  his  bedroom,  together  with  pen,  ink, 
and  paper,  for  fixing  his  ideas  as  they  flow — a  kind 
of  profane  King  David,  truly  good-natured  and  very 
harmless.  Pray  say  to  Count  D'Orsay  everything 
that  is  cordial  and  loving  from  me.  The  travelling- 
purse  he  gave  me  has  been  of  immense  service.  It 
has  been  constantly  opened.  All  Italy  seems  to 
yearn  to  put  its  hand  into  it.  I  think  of  hanging  it, 
when  I  come  back  to  England,  on  a  nail  as  a  trophy, 
and  of  gashing  the  brim  like  the  blade  of  an  old 
sword,  and  saying  to  my  son  and  heir,  as  they  do 
upon  the  stage  :    *  You  see  this  notch,  boy }     Five 


X845-1  "  THE  CHIMES."  157 

hundred  francs  were  laid  low  on  that  day,  for  post- 
horses.  Where  this  gap  is,  a  waiter  charged  your 
father  treble  the  correct  amount — and  got  it.  This 
end,  worn  into  teeth  like  the  rasped  edge  of  an  old 
file,  is  sacred  to  the  Custom  Houses,  boy,  the  pass- 
ports, and  the  shabby  soldiers  at  town-gates,  who 
put  an  open  hand  and  a  dirty  coat-cuff  into  the 
windows  of  all  Forestieri.  Take  it,  boy.  Thy 
father  has  nothing  else  to  give  1 '  My  desk  is  cooling 
itself  in  a  mail-coach,  somewhere  down  at  the  back 
of  the  cathedral,  and  the  pens  and  ink  in  this  house 
are  so  detestable,  that  I  have  no  hope  of  your  ever 
getting  this  portion  of  my  letter.  But  I  have  the 
less  misery  in  this  state  of  mind,  from  knowing  that 
it  has  nothing  in  it  to  repay  you  for  the  trouble  of 
perusal." 

During  the  early  part  of  the  year  1845  Dickens 
remained  on  the  Continent.  He  was  in  London, 
however,  in  the  summer,  making  arrangements  for 
new  books,  and  other  ventures — amongst  them  a  new 
daily  paper,  of  the  most  liberal  principles — for  the 
comino-  autumn  season. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

DICKENS  AS  AN  ACTOR. 


T  has  been  very  generally  stated  that  it  was 
at  the  close  of  this  year  that  our  author 
made  his  first  appearance  as  an  actor  upon  a 
public  stage.  This  is  not  correct.  Dickens's  extreme 
fondness  for  theatricals  had  tempted  him,  as  far  back 
as  the  year  1836,  when  "  Pickwick  "  was  publishing, 
to  take  a  part  in  "  The  Strange  Gentleman,"  at  St. 
James's  Theatre.  The  amateur  actor  was  not  suc- 
cessful on  this  occasion,  and  we  believe  no  further 
attempt — except  drawing-room  performances — was 
made  until  the  autumn  of  1845,  when  he  made 
another  appearance  on  the  stage  at  the  St.  James's 
Theatre,  on  the  19th  of  September,  the  play  selected 
being  Ben  Jonson's  "  Every  Man  in  his  Humour ;" 
the  various  parts  of  the  amateur  performance  being 
taken  by  literary  and  artistic  celebrities.  The  triumph 
achieved  was  immense.  They  were  induced  to  repeat 
the  performance  for  a  Charity,  at  the  same  theatre, 
on  the  15  th  of  November  following,  the  only  altera- 
tion being  the  substitution  of  a  Mr.  Eaton  for  Mr. 
A'Beckett  as  William.  The  playbill  itself  is  a 
curiosity : — 


1845.]  DICKENS  AS  AN  ACTOR.  159 

*'A  Strictly  Private  Amateur  Performance 
At  the  St.  James's  Theatre 

(By  favour  of  Mr.  Mitchell).     Will  be  performed  Ben  Jonson*s 

Comedy  of 

EVERY     MAN     IN     HIS     HUMOUR. 


CHARACTERS^ 


Knowell        

Edward  Knowell 
Brain  worm    ... 
George  Downright   ... 

Wellbred       

Kitely  

Captain  Bobadil 
Master  Stephen 
Master  Mathew 
Thomas  Cash 

Oliver  Cob 

Justice  Clement 

Roger  Formal 

William 

James  ...         ... 

Dame  Kitely... 
Mistress  Bridget 


Henry  Mayhew. 
Frederick  Dickens. 
Mark  Lemon. 
Dudley  Costello. 
George  Cattermole. 
John  Forster. 
Charles  Dickens. 
Douglas  Jerrold, 
John  Leech. 
Augustus  Dickens. 
Percival  Leigh. 
Frank  Stone. 
Mr.  Evans. 
W.  Eaton. 
W.  B.  Jerrold. 
Miss  Fortescue. 
Miss  Hinton. 
Miss  Bew. 


To  conclude  with  a  Farce,  in  One  Act,  called 
TWO     O'CLOCK     IN     THE     MORNING. 

CHARACTERS— 


Mr.  Snobbington ... 
The  Stranger 


Mr.  Charles  Dickens. 
Mr.  Mark  Lemon. 


Previous  to  the  Play,  the  Overture  to  William  Tell.     Previous 
to  the  Farce,  the  Overture  to  La  Gazza  Ladra. 

His  Royal  Highness  Prince  Albert  has  been  pleased  to  express  his 
intention  to  honour  the  performance  with  his  presence." 


i6o  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  I.1844. 

Ben  Jonson,  as  an  acting  dramatist,  has  almost 
disappeared  from  the  stage  he  so  long  adorned,  and, 
probably,  no  performance  of  his  best  comedy  was 
ever  more  successful  than  the  above.  Dickens  made 
such  an  admirable  Captain  Bobadil,  that  Leslie,  the 
Royal  Academician,  took  a  most  characteristic  por- 
trait of  him  in  that  character.  The  moment  selected 
is  when  the  Captain  shouts  out — 

"  A  gentleman !  odds  so,  I  am  not  within." 

Act  I.,  Scene  3. 

Mr.  Mitchell,  of  Bond  Street,  published  a  fine 
lithograph  of  the  picture,  and  collectors  of  the 
deceased  novelist's  portraits  will  do  well  to  secure  a 
copy.  For  beauty  of  portraiture  and  character  there 
is  nothing  like  it.  It  is  also  very  interesting,  as 
coming  between  the  beautiful  but  effeminate  portrait 
of  Maclise  and  the  photograph  of  our  own  day, 
because  it  shows  the  change  that  was  coming  over 
his  features,  when  deep  thought  and  firmness  of  pur- 
pose were  beginning  to  leave  their  marks  behind 
them. 

But  to  return  to  Dickens  as  an  actor.  A  friend 
says  : — 

*^  Analogous  to  his  powers  as  a  reader  were  his 
abilities  as  an  actor ;  and  it  has  been  said  of  him 
with  truth  that,  with  perhaps  the  exception  of 
Frederick  Lemaitre  in  his  best  days,  there  was  no 
one  who  could  excel  Charles  Dickens  in  purely 
dramatic  representation.  Those  who  saw  the  charac- 
ter of  the  lighthouse-keeper  in  Mr.  Wilkie  Collins's 


I845-]  DICKENS  AS  AN  ACTOR.  i6i 

drama,  as  portrayed  first  by  Mr.  Dickens  and  then 
by  Mr.  Robson,  were  enabled  to  judge  of  the  wonder- 
ful superiority  of  the  rendering  given  by  the  former. 
And  not  merely  as  an  actor,  but  as  a  stage  director, 
were  his  talents  pre-eminent ;  not  merely  did  he  play 
his  own  part  to  perfection,  but  he  taught  every  one 
else  in  his  little  company  how  to  play  theirs  ;  he 
would  devise  scenery  with  Stanfield  and  Telbin,  take 
a  practical  share  in  the  stage  carpentry,  write  out  the 
copy  for  the  playbill,  and  in  every  way  thoroughly 
earn  the  title  of  *  Mr.  Crummies,'  with  which  he  was 
always  affectionately  greeted  on  these  occasions." 

At  the  time  of  which  we  are  writing,  Dickens  was 
full  of  enthusiasm  for  the  stage,  and  being  ap- 
pealed to  by  Jerrold  for  an  opinion  on  his  drama  of 
"  Time  Works  Wonders,"  he  wrote  to  his  friend  : — 
"  I  am  greatly  struck  by  the  whole  idea  of  the 
piece.  The  elopement  in  the  beginning,  and  the- 
consequences  that  flow  from  it,  and  their  delicate  and: 
masterly  exposition,  are  of  the  freshest,  truest,  and 
most  vigorous  kind  ;  especially  the  characters — 
especially  the  governess,  among  the  best  I  know ; 
and  the  wit  and  the  wisdom  of  it  are  never  asunder. 
I  could  almost  find  it  in  my  heart  to  sit  down  and 
write  you  a  long  letter  on  the  subject  of  this  play, 
but  I  won't.  I  will  only  thank  you  ior  it  heartily, 
and  add  that  I  agree  with  you  in  thinking  it  incom- 
parably the  best  of  your  dramatic  writings." 

During  the  summer  and  autumn  oi  this  year  Mr. 
Dickens  finished    his    new   Christmas   book,   "The 

I. 


i62  LIFE  OP  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1845-46. 

Cricket  on  the  Hearth  (a  Fairy  Tale  of  Home)  ; 
printed  and  published  for  the  Author "  by  Messrs. 
Bradbury  and  Evans,  illustrated  by  Leech,  Stanfield, 
and  Maclise,  and  dedicated  to  Lord  Jeffrey.  Next 
to  the  "  Christmas  Carol  "  and  the  "  Chimes,"  this  is 
a  great  favourite. 

The  quaint  way  in  which  it  opens,  giving  an 
eloquent  picture  of  homely  and  domestic  comfort  in 
the  English  carrier's  house,  the  construction  of  the 
plot,  and  the  glorious  denoiiemeiity  make  the  book  one 
of  his  best  and  heartiest  efforts.  Tilly  Slowboy,  the 
great  clumsy  nurse-girl,  is  very  charmingly  pour- 
trayed,  her  especial  forte  being  to  hold  the  baby 
topsy-turvey,  and  entertain  it  with  dialogues,  consist- 
ing mainly  of  scraps  from  conversations  she  hears, 
with  all  the  nouns  turned  into  plurals. 

The  Lyceum  was  first  in  the  field  (21st  December) 
with  a  dramatic  adaptation  by  Mr.  Albert  Smith, 
Miss  Mary  Keeley  impersonating  Bertha  ;  Mr.  Keeley, 
Caleb ;  Mrs.  Keeley,  Mrs.  Peerybingle ;  and  Mr.  Emery, 
John,  the  honest  carrier.  Under  Mrs.  Keeley 's  man- 
agement it  proved  an  extraordinary  success. 

On  6th  January  following,  Mr.  Webster's  version 
of  the  story  was  placed  on  the  Haymarket  boards, 
with  this  strong  cast : — 

John  Peerybingle  Mr.  Webster. 

Tackleton  Mr.  Tilbury. 

Caleb  Mr.  Farren. 

Mrs.  Peerybingle  Miss  Fortesque. 

Bertha  Mrs.  Seymour 

Tilly  Slowboy  Mr.  Euckstone. 


1845-46.]  DICKENS  AS  AN  ACTOR.  163 

At  the  Adelphi,  O' Smith  represented  Mr.  Peery- 
bingle ;  Wright,  Tilly  Slowboy ;  and  the  celebrated 
Mrs.  Fitzwilliam,  Dot.  At  the  City  of  London 
Theatre,  too,  an  adaptation  was  performed  with  con- 
siderable ability.  In  the  beginning  of  1862,  Mr. 
Boucicault's  adaptation,  under  the  title  of  "Dot," 
played  at  the  Adelphi,  proved  a  great  triumph, 
Mr.  J.  L.  Toole  sustaining  the  part  of  Caleb. 


I.  2 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


DICKENS  AS  A  JOURNALIST. 

E  have  previously  alluded  to  the  fact  that 
Mr.  Dickens  had  for  some  time  past  been 
thinking  of  connecting  himself  with  a  new 
daily  paper  which  was  to  appear  early  in  the  new 
year.  The  idea  was  well  taken  up.  Money  was 
freely  spent  by  the  various  shareholders,  and  many 
advertisements  told  the  public  that  a  newspaper, 
which  should  supply  everything  in  the  first  style  of 
newspaper  talent,  would  be  published  at  the  price 
of  twopence-halfpenny.  The  name  chosen  was  the 
Daily  News,  and  Mr.  Dickens  was  widely  advertised 
as  "the  head  of  the  literary  department."  Expec- 
tation was  raised  to  a  high  pitch  by  this  announce- 
ment ;  and  in  1846,  on  the  21st  of  January,  the  first 
number  appeared.  The  new  journal,  however,  did 
not  prove  so  successful  as  was  expected.  The  staffs 
of  other  papers  had  been  long  organized,  their 
expenses — of  course  immense — were  well  and  judi- 
ciously controlled,  and  the  arrangements  complete. 
All  these  things  were  new  to  the  Daily  News,  and 
the  expenses  entered  into  did  not  render  it  possible, 
with  the  circulation  it  had  then  reached,  to  sell  the 


i84<5  ]  DICKENS  AS  A  JOURNALIST.  165 

paper  at  the  original  price ;  and  it  was  shortly  after 
raised  to  threepence,  and  finally  to  the  same  price 
as  the  Times. 

Very  recently,  and  only  a  few  days  after  the 
death  of  the  great  novelist,  the  paper  here  alluded 
to  gave  this  account  of  his  connection  with  the 
journal : — 

"  Some  of  our  readers  may  not  be  aware  that  the 
*  Pictures  from  Italy,'  which  are  now  included  In  all 
editions  of  Charles  Dickens's  works,  were  originally 
contributed  to  this  newspaper,  and  that  its  early 
numbers  were  brought  out  under  his  editorship.  In 
the  first  number  of  this  journal,  in  the  Daily  News 
of  January  21,  1846,  appeared  No.  i  of  *  Travelling 
Letters,  written  on  the  Road,  by  Charles  Dickens.' 
In  the  Daily  Nezvs  of  February  14th,  of  the  same 
year,  Mr.  Dickens  wrote  the  following  verses — which 
will  be  new  to  many — elicited  by  a  speech  at  one 
of  the  night  meetings  of  the  wives  of  agricultural 
labourers  in  Wiltshire,  held  to  petition  for  free- 
trade  : — 

THE  HYMN  OF  THE  WILTSHIRE  LABOURERS. 

"  Don't  you  all  think  that  we  have  a  great  need  to  cry  to  our 
God  to  put  it  in  the  hearts  of  our  greaseous  Queen  and  her 
members  of  Parlerment  to  grant  us  free  bread !  "- — Lucy  Simp- 
kins,  at  Brem  Hill. 

Oh  God,  who  by  Thy  Prophet's  hand 

Didst  smite  the  rocky  brake. 
Whence  water  came  at  Thy  command. 

Thy  people's  thirst  to  slake : 


''--^^ 


LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1846. 

Strike,  now,  upon  this  granite  wall. 

Stern,  obdurate,  and  high ; 
And  let  some  drops  of  pity  fall 

For  us  who  starve  and  die  ! 

The  God,  who  took  a  little  child 

And  set  him  in  the  midst. 
And  promised  him  His  mercy  mild. 

As,  by  Thy  Son,  Thou  didst : 
Look  down  upon  our  children  dear. 

So  gaunt,  so  cold,  so  spare. 
And  let  their  images  appear 

Where  Lords  and  Gentry  are ! 

Oh  God,  teach  them  to  feel  how  wc. 

When  our  poor  infants  droop. 
Are  weakened  in  our  trust  in  Thee, 

And  how  our  spirits  stoop : 
For,  in  Thy  rest,  so  bright  and  fair. 

All  tears  and  sorrows  sleep  ; 
And  their  young  looks,  so  full  of  care. 

Would  make  Thine  angels  weep ! 

The  God,  who  with  His  finger  drew 

The  Judgment  coming  on. 
Write  for  these  men,  what  must  ensue. 

Ere  many  years  be  gone  ! 
Oh  God,  whose  bow  is  in  the  sky. 

Let  them  not  brave  and  dare. 
Until  they  look  (too  late)  on  high 

And  see  an  Arrow  there ! 

Oh  God,  remind  them     In  the  bread 

They  break  upon  the  knee. 
These  sacred  words  may  yet  be  read, 

"  In  memory  of  Me  " ! 


1846.]  DICKENS  AS  A   JOURNALIST.  167 

Oh  God,  remind  them  of  His  sweet 

Compassion  for  the  poor. 
And  how  He  gave  them  Bread  to  eat. 

And  went  from  door  to  door. 

Charles  Dickens. 

"  There  is  the  true  ring  in  these  lines.  They  have 
the  note  which  Dickens  sounded  consistently  through 
life  of  right  against  might ;  the  note  which  found 
expression  in  the  Anti-Corn  Law  agitation,  in  the 
protests  against  workhouse  enormities,  in  the  raid 
against  those  eccentricities  in  legislation  which  are 
anomalies  to  the  rich  and  bitter  hardships  to  the 
poor.  Let  the  reader  remark  how  consistently  the 
weekly  periodicals  which  Mr.  Dickens  has  guided 
have  taken  this  side,  and  how  the  many  pens 
employed  on  them  have  taken  this  side  whenever 
political  or  social  subjects  have  been  discussed ;  and 
he  will  understand  that  the  author  was  not  a  mere 
jester  and  story-teller,  but  a  true  philanthropist  and 
Informer."* 

Dickens's  friends  very  soon  saw  that  he  had  taken 
a  false  step.  The  duties  of  a  daily  political  paper 
were  not  suitable  to  him,  and  before  many  months 
he  relinquished  the  editorship,  and  retired  from  par- 
ticipation in  the  Daily  News — but  not,  it  is  under- 
stood, without  a  considerable  loss  in  money.  His 
place  was  then  filled  by  Mr.  John  Forster,  the  able 
editor  of  the  Examiner ^  and  friend — and  at  that  time. 

*  Daily  News,  nth  June,  1870. 


i68  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1846. 

the  champion — of  Mr.  Macready.  For  many  years 
previously  Dickens  had  been  on  the  friendliest  terms 
with  the  author  of  the  delightful  "  Life  of  Goldsmith," 
and  this  intimacy  was  maintained  to  the  close  of  our 
author's  life,  and  in  his  will  Mr.  Forster  has  been 
appointed  principal  executor.  After  the  "  Pictures  '* 
had  appeared  in  the  Daily  NewSy  they  were  col- 
lected and  printed  and  published  for  the  author, 
in  May,  1846,  by  his  new  publishers,  Messrs.  Brad- 
bury and  Evans.  Both  this  work  and  "  The  Cricket 
on  the  Hearth "  may  be  regarded  as  the  specula- 
tions of  Mr.  Dickens  in  attempting  publishing  on  his 
own  account.  No  further  works  written  by  him  have 
been,  we  believe,  "  printed  and  published  for  the 
author."  The  book  did  not  meet  with  that  hearty 
applause  which  had  been  given  to  his  previous  works. 
About  this  time  there  are  evidences  that  Dickens 
was  planning  another  novel,  to  be  issued  in  the  old 
familiar  green  covers.  Two  years  had  elapsed  since 
the  completion  of  "  Martin  Chuzzlewit,"  and  we  now 
find  him  writing  to  his  friend,  the  Countess  of 
Blessington,  about  a  "new  book" — which  new  work 
must  have  been  "  Dombey  and  Son,"  that  appeared 
in  the  following  year  : — "  Vague  thoughts  of  a  new 
book  are  rife  within  me  just  now ;  and  I  go  wander- 
ing about  at  night  into  the  strangest  places,  according 
to  my  usual  propensity  at  such  a  time,  seeking  rest, 
and  finding  none.  As  an  addition  to  my  composure, 
I  ran  over  a  little  dog  in  the  Regent's  Park,  yesterday 
(killing  him  on  the  spot),  and  gave  his  little  mistress 


1846.]  DICKENS  AS  A  JOURNALIST,  169 

such  exquisite  distress  as  I  never  saw  the  Hke  of.  I 
must  have  some  talk  with  you  about  those  American 
singers  *  They  must  never  go  back  to  their  own 
country  without  your  having  heard  them  sing  Hood's 
*  Bridge  of  Sighs.'  My  God !  how  sorrowful  and 
pitiful  it  is  1" 

Writing  to  Jerrold,  also,  before  his  departure  to 
Switzerland,  he  incidentally  speaks  of  the  work  he 
is  engaged  upon  : — 

"  I  wish  you  would  seriously  consider  the  expe- 
diency and  feasibility  of  coming  to  Lausanne  in  the 
summer  or  early  autumn.  I  must  be  at  work  myself 
during  a  certain  part  of  every  day  almost,  and  you 
could  do  twice  as  much  there  as  here.  It  is  a  won- 
derful place  to  see  ;  and  what  sort  of  welcome  you 
will  find  I  will  say  nothing  about,  for  I  have  vanity 
enough  to  believe  that  you  would  be  willing  to  feel 
yourself  as  much  at  home  in  my  household  as  in  any 
man's."  Arriving  at  Lausanne,  he  writes  that  he 
will  be  ready  to  accommodate  him  in  June,  and  goes 
on  : — "  We  are  established  here,  in  a  perfect  doll's 
house,  which  could  be  put  bodily  into  the  hall  of  our 
Italian  palazzo  ;  but  it  is  the  most  lovely  and  deli- 
cious situation  imaginable,  and  there  is  a  spare  bed- 
room, wherein  we  could  make  you  as  comfortable  as 
need  be.  Bowers  of  roses  for  cigar  smoking,  arbours 
for  cool  punch-drinking,  mountain  and  Tyrolean 
countries  close  at  hand,  piled-up  Alps  before  the 
windows,  &c.  &c.  &c." 

*  The  Hutchinson  family  probably. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


APPEARANCE  OF  "DOMBEY  AND   SON." 

N  the  1st  October,  the  first  number  of 
"  Dombey  and  Son  "  was  issued  by  Messrs, 
Bradbury  and  Evans,  illustrated  by  Phiz. 
It  ran  the  usual  twenty  numbers,  and  on  its  comple- 
tion was  dedicated  to  the  Marchioness  of  Normanby. 

This  is,  perhaps,  one  of  his  least  popular  novels. 
The  descriptions  of  high  life  are  somewhat  forced 
and  overdrawn.  Dombey  is  a  man  thoroughly  to  be 
detested — cruel,  stern,  and  unbending.  Little  Paul 
and  Captain  Cuttle  are  the  two  best  characters  in 
the  book,  which  contains  many  others  excessively 
diverting.  Mr.  Toots,  with  his  mania  for  writing 
confidential  letters  to  himself  from  great  and  eminent 
men,  and  his  penchant  for  Messrs.  Burgess  and  Co., 
the  celebrated  tailors ;  Perch,  the  messenger,  and 
father  of  a  large  family  ;  the  awful  Mrs.  MacStinger, 
Susan  Nipper,  Major  Joe  Bagstock,  Miss  Floy,  &c. 

In  ''Dombey"  Dickens  has  evidently  endeavoured 
to  describe  a  certain  phase  of  ''high  life,"  and  he 
has  done  so  with  much  success.  The  character  of 
the  aristocratic  Cousin  Feenix  is  finished  and  natural. 

It  may  just  be  mentioned  that  Hablot  K.  Browne 
(Phiz),  with  Mr.  Dickens's  sanction,  published  some 


1846-47-]    APPEARANCE   OF  "  DOMBEY  AND  SON"  171 

additional  designs — full-length  portraits  of  the  cha- 
racters contained  in  the  novel. 

While  the  story  was  progressing,  an  enterprising 
publisher,  in  January,  1847,  started  in  weekly  penny 
numbers  "  Dombey  and  Daughter,"  coolly  announcing 
its  appearance  thus  : — 

"This  work  is  from  the  pen  of  one  of  the  first  Periodical  Writers  of 
the  day ;  and  is,  in  literary  merit  (although  so  low  in  price),  no  way  inferior 
to  Mr.  Dickens's  admirable  worl<,  '  Dombey  and  Son.'  Those  who  are 
reading  '  Dombey  and  Son '  should  most  assuredly  order  '  Dombey  and 
Daughter ; '  it  is  a  production  of  exalted  intellect,  written  to  sustain 
moral  example  and  virtuous  precept— deeply  to  interest,  and  sagely  to 
instruct. 

"Order  of  any  Bookseller  or  Newsvendor. — One  Penny  will  test  the 
truth  of  this  announcement." 

The  public  thought  differently,  and  nothing  further 
was  heard  of  the  work. 

Early  in  1847,  in  a  letter  to  Lady  Blessington, 
Dickens  wrote : — "  I  begin  to  doubt  whether  I  had 
anything  to  do  with  a  book  called  *  Dombey,'  or  ever 
sat  over  number  five  (not  finished  a  fortnight  yet), 
day  after  day,  until  I  half  began,  like  the  monk  in 
poor  Wilkie's  story,  to  think  it  the  only  reality  in 
life,  and  to  mistake  all  the  realities  for  short-lived 
shadows."* 

In  the  preface  to  the  new  edition  in  1858,  is  this 
note  : — "  I  began  this  book  by  the  Lake  of  Geneva, 
and  went  on  with  it  for  some  months  in  France. 

*  It  may  be  remembered  how  this  same  beautiful  story  of 
Wilkie's,  was  differently  applied  by  Mr.  Dickens,  in  the  last 
speech  he  ever  made  at  the  Royal  Academy  dinner. 


172  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1846-47. 

The  association  between  the  writing  and  the  place  of 
writing  is  so  curiously  strong  in  my  mind,  that  at 
this  day,  although  I  know  every  stair  in  the  little 
midshipman's  house,  and  could  swear  to  every  pew 
in  the  church  in  which  Florence  was  married,  or  to 
every  young  gentleman's  bedstead  in  Doctor  Blimber's 
establishment,  I  yet  confusedly  imagine  Captain 
Cuttle  as  secluding  himself  from  Mrs.  MacStinger 
among  the  mountains  of  Switzerland.  Similarly, 
when  I  am  reminded  by  any  chance  of  what  it  was 
that  the  waves  were  always  saying,  I  wander  in  my 
fancy  for  a  whole  winter  night  about  the  streets  of 
Paris — as  I  really  did,  with  a  heavy  heart,  on  the 
night  when  my  little  friend  and  I  parted  company 
for  ever."* 

*  The  Philadelphia  Morning  Post  says : — Dickens,  while  in 
this  city,  was  very  anxious  to  purchase  Mr.  James  Hamilton's 
painting,  entitled  "  What  are  the  Wild  Waves  Saying  ? "  But 
as  this  beautiful  work,  one  of  the  artist's  best,  was  already  sold, 
Mr.  Dickens  requested  that  he  might  see  the  original  sketch, 
with  which  he  was  so  greatly  pleased  that  he  insisted  upon  buying 
it.  Mr.  Hamilton  refused  to  sell  the  picture,  but  presented  it 
to  Mr.  Dickens,  The  other  day  the  artist  received  from  Mr. 
Dickens  an  exquisite  edition  of  his  novels,  accompanied  by  the 
following  autograph  : — "  Gad's-hill  Place,  Higham  by  Rochester, 
Kent,  Monday,  Twenty-fifth  May,  1868,  to  Mr.  James  Hamil- 
ton, this  set  of  my  books  with  thanks  and  regard. — Charles 
Dickens."  It  is  certain  that  Charles  Dickens's  genius  never 
suggested  a  more  imaginative  picture  than  this  masterpiece,  and 
his  appreciation  of  Hamilton  could  not  have  been  more  deli- 
cately shown. 


1S46-47-]    APPEARANCE   OF  '^  DOMBEY  AND  SON."  173 

Lord  Cockburn,  in  a  letter  under  date  31st  of 
January,  1847,  wrote  to  the  author: — 

"  Oh,  my  dear,  dear  Dickens  !  What  a  No.  5  you 
have  given  us  !  I  have  so  cried  and  sobbed  over  it 
last  night,  and  again  this  morning ;  and  felt  my 
heart  purified  by  those  tears,  and  blessed  and  loved 
you  for  making  me  shed  them  ;  and  I  never  can  bless 
and  love  you  enough.  Since  that  divine  Nelly  was 
found  in  her  humble  couch,  beneath  the  snow  and 
ivy,  there  has  been  nothing  like  the  actual  dying  of 
that  sweet  Paul,  in  the  summershine  of  that  lofty 
room." 

A  high  medical  authority  assures  us,  that  in  the 
author's  description  of  the  last  illness  of  Mrs.  Skew- 
ton,  he  actually  anticipated  the  clinical  researches  of 
M.  Dax,  Broca,  and  Hughlings  Jackson,  on  the  con- 
nection of  right  hemiplegia  with  asphasia. 

The  story  was  cleverly  dramatized  and  well 
represented  at  the  Marylebone  Theatre,  in  June, 
1849,  and  its  success  was  in  proportion  to  its 
merits. 

In  the  spring  of  1846,  on  April  6th,  the  first 
Anniversary  Festival  of  the  General  Theatrical 
Fund  Association  was  held  at  the  London  Tavern. 
Dickens  was  in  the  chair,  and  made  some  admirable 
hits  in  his  most  effective  speech,  as  when  he  said, 
in  speaking  of  the  *'  base  uses  "  to  which  the  two 
great  theatres  were  then  being  applied  : — "Covent 
Garden  is  now  but  a  vision  of  the  past.  You  might 
play  the  bottle  conjuror  with  its  dramatic  company, 


174  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1846-47. 

and  put  them  all  into  a  pint  bottle.  The  human 
voice  is  rarely  heard  within  its  walls,  save  in  con- 
nection with  corn,  or  the  ambidextrous  prestidigita- 
tion of  the  Wizard  of  the  North.  In  like  manner, 
Drury  Lane  is  conducted  now  with  almost  a  sole 
view  to  the  opera  and  ballet,  insomuch  that  the 
statue  of  Shakspeare  over  the  door  serves  as  em- 
phatically to  point  out  his  grave  as  his  bust  did  in 
the  church  of  Stratford-upon-Avon." 

What,  too,  can  be  happier  than  his  pleadings  for 
the  poor  actor  : — "  Hazlitt  has  well  said  that  *  There 
is  no  class  of  society  whom  so  many  persons  regard 
with  affection  as  actors.  We  greet  them  on  the  stage, 
we  like  to  m.eet  them  in  the  streets  ;  they  almost 
always  recall  to  us  pleasant  associations.'  When  they 
have  strutted  and  fretted  their  hour  upon  the  stage, 
let  them  not  be  heard  no  more — but  let  them  be 
heard  sometimes  to  say  that  they  are  happy  in  their 
old  age.  When  they  have  passed  for  the  last  time 
from  behind  that  glittering  row  of  lights  with  which 
we  are  all  familiar,  let  them  not  pass  away  into 
gloom  and  darkness, — but  let  them  pass  into  cheer- 
fulness and  light — into  a  contented  and  happy 
home."  * 

Writing  to  Jerrold  from  Geneva,  in  November, 
1846,  he  says  :  "This  day  week  I  finished  my  little 
Christmas  book  (writing  towards  the  close  the  exact 
words   of    a   passage   in    your  affectionate    letter,"!* 

*  Given  entire  in  "  The  Speeches  of  Charles  Dickens." 

t  Jerrold,  in  the  letter  referred  to  by  Dickens,  had  said  (in 


I847-]         APPEARANCE  OF  " DOMBEY  AND  SON."  175 

received  this  morning  ;  to  wit,  '  After  all,  life  has 
something  serious  in  it ')  ;  and  ran  over  here  for  a 
week's  rest.  I  cannot  tell  you  how  much  true 
gratification  I  have  had  in  your  most  hearty  letter. 
Forster  told  me  that  the  same  spirit  breathed  through 
a  notice  of  *  Dombey '  in  your  paper ;  and  I  have 
been  saying  since  to  K.  and  G.,  that  there  is  no  such 
good  way  of  testing  the  worth  of  a  literary  friendship 
as  by  comparing  its  influence  on  one's  mind  with  any 
that  literary  animosity  can  produce.  Mr.  W.  will 
throw  me  into  a  violent  fit  of  anger  for  the  moment, 
it  is  true  ;  but  his  acts  and  deeds  pass  into  the  death 
of  all  bad  things  next  day,  and  rot  out  of  my  memory ; 
whereas  a  generous  sympathy  like  yours  is  ever 
present  to  me,  ever  fresh  and  new  to  me — always 
stimulating,  cheerful,  and  delightful.  The  pain  of 
unjust  malice  is  lost  in  an  hour.  The  pleasure  of  a 
generous  friendship  is  the  steadiest  joy  in  the  world. 
What  a  glorious  and  comfortable  thing  that  is  to 
think  of! 

"No,  I  don't  get  the  paper*  regularly.     To  the 

deprecating  Gilbert  A'Beckett's  **  Comic  History  of  England"): 
"  After  all,  life  has  something  serious  in  it.  It  cannot  be  all  a 
comic  history  of  humanity.  Some  men  would,  I  believe,  write 
the  Comic  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Think  of  a  Comic  History 
of  England;  the  drollery  of  Alfred;  the  fun  of  Sir  Thomas 
More  in  the  Tower ;  the  farce  of  his  daughter  begging  the  dead 
head,  and  clasping  it  in  her  coffin,  on  her  bosom.  Surely  the 
world  will  be  sick  of  this  blasphemy." 
*  Douglas  J errold's  Weekly  Newspaper. 


176  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1847. 

best  of  my  recollection,  I  have  not  had  more 
than  three  numbers — certainly  not  more  than  four. 
But  I  knew  how  busy  you  must  be,  and  had  no 
expectation  of  hearing  from  you  until  I  wrote  from 
Paris  (as  I  intended  doing),  and  implored  you  to 
come  and  make  merry  with  us  there.  I  am  truly 
pleased  to  receive  your  good  account  of  that  enter- 
prise  I    have    had    great    success 

again  in  magnetism.     E ,  who  has  been  with  ua 

for  a  week  or  so,  holds  my  magnetic  powers  in 
great  veneration,  and  I  really  think  they  are,  by 
some  conjunction  of  chances,  strong.  Let  them, 
or  something  else,  hold  you  to  me  by  the 
heart." 

"  The  Battle  of  Life  (a  Love  Story)"  was  the 
Christmas  book  referred  to  in  the  beginning  of  the 
foregoing  letter.  Messrs.  Bradbury  and  Evans  were 
the  publishers,  and  Macllse,  Leech,  Stanfield,  and 
Doyle  the  Illustrators.  It  was  a  great  favourite,  and 
enjoyed  considerable  popularity,  on  account  of  its 
poetical  tendency. 

Clemency  Newcome  is  a  spiritedly  drawn  and 
tvell-concelved  character,  as  are  Messrs.  Snitchley 
and  Craggs,  the  solicitors.  Dr.  Jeddler,  his  daughters, 
Heathfield,  and  Michael  Warden,  they  all  displaying 
considerable  care  and  painstaking  In  their  treatment. 
Benjamin  Britain,  sometimes  called  Little  Britain,  to 
distinguish  him  from  Great,  is  an  oddity.  He  ex- 
presses himself  in  a  conversation  to  this  effect : — 
**  I  don't  know  anything,  I  don't  care  for  anything,  I 


x847-]         APPEARANCE  OF  " DOMBEY  AND  SON."  177 

don't  make  out  anything,  I  don't  believe  anything, 
and  I  don't  want  anything." 

The  Lyceum  reopened  on  the  21st  December,  with 
a  dramatic  version  of  the  story  by  Albert  Smith 
— Clemency  Newcome  sustained  by  Mrs.  Keeley ; 
Benjamin  Britain,  by  Mr.  Keeley;  Alfred  Heathfield, 
Leigh  Murray;  and  Doctor  Jeddler,  Mr.  Frank 
Matthews.  At  Astley's  Theatre,  in  March,  1867,  a- 
clever  adaptation  was  performed,  and  ran  a  con- 
siderable time. 


M 


CHAPTER  XVr. 

VICTOR  HUGO. — THE    HAUNTED   MAN. 


^ROM  Paris,  early  in  1847,  our  author  writes 
to  Lady  Blessington,  describing  his  visit  to 
Victor  Hugo,  then  residing  in  the   French 


capital.  Twelve  months  after  this,  the  great  French 
novelist  had  to  fly.  The  co?/p  d'etat  brought  about  a 
new  order  of  things  : — 

"  We  were  (writes  Dickens)  at  V.  H.'s  house  last 
Sunday  week — a  most  extraordinary  place,  something 
like  an  old  curiosity  shop,  or  the  property-room  of 
some  gloomy,  vast  old  theatre.  I  was  much  struck 
by  H.  himself,  who  looks  like  a  genius — he  is,  every 
inch  of  him,  and  is  very  interesting  and  satisfactory 
from  head  to  foot.  His  wife  is  a  handsome  woman, 
with  flashing  black  eyes.  There  is  also  a  charming 
ditto  daughter,  of  fifteen  or  sixteen,  with  ditto  eyes. 
Sitting  among  old  armour  and  old  tapestry,  and  old 
coffers,  and  grim  old  chairs  and  tables,  and  old 
canopies  of  state  from  old  palaces,  and  old  golden 
lions  going  to  play  at  skittles  with  ponderous  old 
golden  balls,  that  made  a  most  romantic  show,  and 


1 847-1  VICTOR  HUGO.  x-jg 

looked  like  a  chapter  out  of  one  of  his  own 
books." 

The  letter  is  most  interesting  in  a  double  sense. 
It  shows  us  Victor  Hugo's  tastes  in  decoration,  and 
those  objects  in  his  house  upon  which  his  eye  would 
continually  rest,  and  which  would  help  to  form 
drapery  and  literary  illustration  for  his  fictions  ;  and 
it  shows  us  in  an  oblique  manner  what  Avere 
Dickens's  notions  in  these  matters,  and  the  sym- 
pathy— if  any — in  such  surroundings,  between  the 
two  men. 

During  this  year  an  announcement  appeared  that 
Shakspeare's  house  at  Stratford-upon-Avon  v/as  to 
be  sold.  A  public  meeting  was  held,  and  a  committee 
organized.  By  subscriptions,  and  a  grand  perform- 
ance at  Covent  Garden  Theatre,  on  yt\\  December 
— all  the  principal  actors  and  actresses  taking 
part  therein — and  readings  by  Macready,  prior 
to  his  retirement,  a  sufficient  sum  (;^  3,000)  was 
realized. 

To  provide  for  the  proper  care  and  custody  of  the 
house  and  its  relics,  a  series  of  amateur  entertain- 
ments were  given.  Messrs.  Charles  Knight,  Peter 
Cunningham,  and  John  Payne  Collier  were  the  Di- 
rectors of  the  General  Manag-ement,  and  Dickens 
the  Stage  Manager. 

The  first  performance  took  place  at  the  Haymarket 
Theatre  on  May  15,  1848,  the  play  selected  being 
"  The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,"  with  the  following 
cast : — 

M   2 


i8o 


LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS. 


[1847. 


Sir  John  FalstafF 
Fenton  ... 
Shallow 
Slender... 

Mr.  Ford  

Mr.  Page  

Sir  Hugh  Evans 

Dr.  Caius 

Host  of  the  Garter  Inn 

Bardolph 

Pistol 

Nym    ... 

Robin 

Simple... 
Jlugby  ... 

Mrs.  Ford        

Mrs.  Page 

Mrs.  Anne  Page 

Mrs.  puickly 


Mr.  Mark  Lemon. 
Mr.  Charles  Romcr. 
Mr.  Charles  Dickens. 
Mr.  John  Leech. 
Mr.  Forstcr. 
Mr.  Frank  Stone. 
Mr.  G.  H.  Lewes. 
Mr.  Dudley  Costello. 
Mr.  Frcdk.' Dickens. 
Mr.  Cole. 

Mr.  Geo.  Cruikshank. 
Mr.  Augustus  Dickens. 
Miss  Robins. 
Mr.  Augustus  Egg. 
Mr.  Eaton. 
Miss  Fortesque. 
Miss  Ken  worthy. 
Miss  Anne  Romer. 
Mrs.  Cowden  Clarke. 


Towards  the  close  of  the  year  1847  he  was  invited 
by  the  good  people  of  Leeds  to  attend  a  soiree 
at  their  Mechanics'  Institution.*  One  clause  of  his 
speech  was  in  his  most  characteristic  manner.  He  is 
speaking  of  a  class  of  politicians  who  object  to 
educate  the  lower  orders  any  more  than  up  to  a 
certain  point,  because  "  Knowledge  is  power  "  : — 

"  I  never  heard  but  one  tangible  position  taken 
against  educational  establishments  for  the  people, 
and  that  was,  that  in  this  or  that  instance,  or  in  these 
or  those  instances,  education  for  the  people  has 
failed.  And  I  have  never  traced  even  this  to  its 
source  but  I  have  found  that  the  term  education,  so 


*  December,  1847. 


1847-48.]  THE  HAUNTED  MAN,  181 

employed,  meant  anything  but  education — Implied 
the  mere  imperfect  application  of  old,  Ignorant,  pre- 
posterous spelling-book  lessons  to  the  meanest  pur- 
poses— as  If  you  should  teach  a  child  that  there  Is  no 
higher  end  In  electricity,  for  example,  than  expressly 
to  strike  a  mutton-pie  out  of  the  hand  of  a  greedy 
boy — and  on  which  it  Is  as  unreasonable  to  found  an 
objection  to  education  In  a  comprehensive  sense,  as  it 
would  be  to  object  altogether  to  the  combing  of 
youthful  hair,  because  in  a  certain  charity-school 
they  had  a  practice  of  combing  It  Into  the  pupils' 
eyes." 

"  Dombey  and  Son  "  Interfering  with  his  arrange- 
ments, the  Christmas  of  1847  passed  without  the 
usual  appearance  of  a  separate  story,  but  the  ensu- 
ing Christmas  "  The  Haunted  Man,  and  the  Ghost's 
Bargain  "  was  published  by  Messrs.  Bradbury  and 
Evans.  This  is,  perhaps,  his  least  popular  little 
book,  although  considerable  skill  and  vigorous 
writing  are  apparent.  Redlaw,  the  Haunted  Man,  is  a 
creation  of  sad  and  sombre  hue.  The  most  genial 
parts  are  the  accounts  of  Tetterby,  the  struggling 
newsvendor,  and  his  family,  not  forgetting  Johnny, 
and  the  Moloch  baby,  Sally. 

In  a  little  sketch  of  Mr.  Dickens  which  appeared 
many  years  ago.  It  was  said, — "  If  stories  told  by 
booksellers  of  extraordinary  sales  be  true,  this  last 
Christmas  volume  met  with  quite  as  much  favour  as 
any  of  the  rest.  But  somehow,  when  It  was  read,  it 
did  not  please.     The  '  Haunted  Man '  did  not  long 


i82  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [iS^/. 

haunt  our  memories.  It  had  a  peculiar  purpose, 
opposed  to  the  first  part  of  the  old  saw,  *  Forget  and 
forgive.'  This  extract  will  place  before  us  the  moral 
of  the  tale  : — 

" '  I  have  no  learning,'  said  Milly,  *  and  you  have 
much  ;  I  am  not  used  to  think,  and  you  are  always 
thinking.  May  I  tell  you  why  it  seems  to  me  a 
good  thing  to  remember  wrong  that  has  been  done 
us.?' 

"  '  Yes.' 

"  ^  That  we  may  forgive  it.' 

"  '  Pardon  me,  great  heaven,'  said  Redlaw,  lifting 
up  his  eyes,  'for  having  thrown  away  thine  own 
attribute ! ' 

"  'And  if,'  said  Milly,  'If  your  own  memory  should 
one  day  be  restored,  as  we  will  hope  and  pray  it  may 
be,  would  it  not  be  a  blessing  to  you  to  recall  at  once 
a  wrong  and  its  forgiveness  } ' 

"  Alas  for  human  nature,  how  few  can  do 
this  ! " 

Happy  he  from  whose  memory  wrong  is  quickly 
effaced  ;  and  unfortunate  that  mind  which,  in  recall- 
ing an  injury,  feels  again  the  poignancy  of  the  wound. 
We  fear  that  forgiveness,  or  what  looks  like  it,  the 
absence  of  rancour,  often  comes  through  forgetful- 
ness.  We  fear  that  it  ever  must  be  so  ;  that  few  will 
remember  vividly,  and  forgive  perfectly.  In  ordinary 
minds,  then,  forgetfulness  and  forgiveness  will  be  com- 
panions, and  for  them  the  old  motto  is  a  good  one  ; 
but  it  is  the  highest  part  of  the  highest  creed,   to 


1847.]  THE  HAUNTED  MAN.  183 

forgive  before  memory  sleeps,  and  ever  to  remember 
how  the  good  overcame  the  evil. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  the  illustrious  novelist 
has  curiously  mistaken  the  legend  of  the  old  portrait, 
on  which  this  story  is  built, — "  Lord,  keep  my  me- 
mory green,"  Vv-hich  we  take  to  be  a  wish  that  the 
fame  of  the  man  shall  survive  to  aftcrtimcs,  so  as  to 
verify  Herrick's  sweet  lines, — 

"  Only  the  actions  of  the  just 
Smell  sweet,  and  blosioni  in  the  diat.'*^ 

Whilst  Mr.  Dickens  makes  it  mean,  "Lord,  allow 
my  recollection  (mental  power  of  remembrance")  to 
be  unimpaired  ;"  like  Swift's  prayer  that  he  should 
not  die  mad,  viewing  with  fear  the  awful  contingency 
of  loss  of  mind. 

"  From  Marlborough's  eyes  the  tears  of  dotage  flow. 
And  swift  expire,  a  driveller  and  a  show." 

At  the  Adelphi  and  the  Polytechnic  Institution 
this  story,  by  the  aid  of  the  patent  Pepper's -ghost 
apparatus,  some  three  or  four  years  since,  excited 
considerable  attention,  and  the  satisfactory  result,  in 
a  monetary  sense,  was  testified  by  the  fact  of  the 
numerous  audiences  at  each  representation. 

The  five  little  Christmas  books  which  we  have 
separately  noticed  under  the  year  of  their  issue,  were 
published  in  one  volume,  and  entitled  "  Christmas 
Books."  To  this  Mr.  Dickens  contributed  a  new 
and  admirable  preface. 

Three   days   after   Christmas-day,    1847,  Dickens 


i84  LIFE    OF  CHARLES  DICKERS.  [1847. 

was  in  Glasgow,  presiding  at  the  opening  of  the  new 
Athenaeum  there.  The  burden  of  his  speech  was 
"  What  constituted  Real  Education  ?  " 

"Mere  reading  and  writing  is  not  education,"  he 
said  ;  "  it  would  be  quite  as  reasonable  to  call  bricks 
and  mortar  architecture — oils  and  colours  art — reeds 
and  catgut  music — or  the  child's  spelling-books 
the  works  of  Shakspeare,  Milton,  or  Bacon — as  to 
call  the  lowest  rudiments  of  education,  education, 
and  to  visit  on  that  most  abused  and  slandered  word 
their  failure  in  any  instance."  These  and  kindred 
sentiments  were  very  warmly  received,  and  were 
acknowledged  in  a  complimentary  speech  by  Sir 
Archibald  (then  Mr.)  Alison. 


■^^^??^^r^^^ 


CHAPTER   XVII. 


DICKENS  AND  THACKERAY.- 

FIELD." 


DAVID   COPPER- 


R.  DICKENS  had  hitherto  met  with  no 
competitor  in  the  field  of  Enghsh  fiction. 
He  had  early  won  the  attention  of  readers, 
but  no  writer  had  arisen  to  divide  the  honour  with 
him.  Another  novelist,  however,  was  now  beginning 
to  be  talked  of  On  the  1st  of  February,  1847,  Mr. 
Thackeray  had  issued  the  first  monthly  portion  of 
"Vanity  Fair,"  in  the  yellow  wrapper  which  served 
to  distinguish  it  from  Mr.  Dickens's  stories,  and, 
after  some  twelve  months  had  passed,  critics  began 
to  speak  of  the  work  in  terms  of  approbation.  The 
EdinhiirgJi  Reviezv,  criticising  it  in  January,  1848, 
says, — "The  great  charm  of  this  work  is  its  entire 
freedom  from  mannerism  and  aftcctation  both  in 
style  and  sentiment.  *  *  *  His  pathos  (though 
not  so  deep  as  ]\Ir.  Dickens's)  is  exquisite  ;  the  more 
so,  perhaps,  because  he  seems  to  struggle  against  it, 
and  to  be  half  ashamed  of  being  caught  in  the  m^elt- 
ing  mood  ;  but  the  attempt  to  be  caustic,  satirical, 
ironical,  or  philosophical,  on  such  occasions,  is  uni- 
formly vain ;   and  again  and  again  have  we  found 


i86  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1848. 

reason  to  admire  how  an  originally  fine  and  kind 
nature  remains  essentially  free  from  worldliness,  and, 
in  the  highest  pride  of  intellect,  pays  homage  to  the 
heart." 

From  this  time  forward  a  friendly  rivalry  ensued 
between  the  two  representatives  of  the  two  schools 
of  English  fiction.  We  say  ''rivalry,"  but  it  never 
could  have  existed  from  Dickens's  side,  for,  when 
''Vanity  Fair"  was  at  its  best,  finding  six  thousand 
purchasers  a  month,  Dickens  was  taking  the  shillings 
from  thirty  to  forty  thousand  readers ;  but  the 
gossips  of  society  have  always  asserted  that  there 
zvas  a  rivalry,  and  made  comparisons  so  very  fre- 
quently between  the  two  great  men,  that  we  inci- 
dentally allude  to  it  here.  More  than  once  has 
Thackeray  said  to  the  present  writer  (or  words  very 
similar) : — "Ah !  they  talk  to  me  of  popularity,  with 
a  sale  of  little  more  than  one  half  of  10,000!  Why, 
look  at  that  lucky  fellow,  Dickens,  with  heaven 
knows  how  many  readers,  and  certainly  not  less  than 
30,000  buyers  !  "  But  the  fact  is  easily  explained — 
only  cultivated  readers  enjoy  Thackeray,  whereas 
both  cultivated  and  uncultivated  read  Dickens  v/ith 
delight. 

To  return  to  Mr.  Dickens's  new  book — "■  David 
Copperfield,"  one  of  the  finest  and  certainly  one  of 
the  most  popular  of  its  author's  works.  The  first 
number  appeared  May  ist,  1849,  with  illustrations  by 
"  Phiz."  It  extended  to  the  usual  twenty  numbers, 
and  on  its  completion  was  issued  by  Messrs.  Brad- 


1 049-]  "DAVID  COPPERFIELDr  187 

bury  and  Evans,  with  a  dedication  to  the  Honour- 
able Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richard  Watson  of  Rockingham. 

The  work,  as  we  have  previously  remarked,  is  a 
great  favourite,  and  such  it  deserves  to  be,  for  to  our 
mind  it  is  the  happiest  of  all  his  fictions.  It  was  the 
first  that  we  read,  and  well  do  we  remember  the 
exquisite  delight  with  which  we  eagerly  devoured  its 
pages — a  rough  seaman's  copy  of  the  American 
edition,  which  had  been  lent  as  an  immense  favour — 
and,  boy-like,  appreciated  and  sympathized  with 
David  in  his  youthful  struggles.  At  that  time  we 
had  just  quitted  the  house  of  a  distant  relative  with 
whom  we  had  been  residing,  and  who  in  very  many 
respects — so  far  as  trying  to  break  David's  spirit  in 
before  going  to  Salem  House — greatly  resembled 
the  treatment  shown  towards  ourselves. 

The  book  is  written  in  a  delightfully  easy,  earnest, 
yet  most  graceful  manner ;  the  plot  is  well  contrived 
and  never  forced.  It  has  often  been  hinted  that  in 
many  ways  it  is  partly  autobiographical — the  hero 
beginning  at  the  law,  turning  parliamentary  reporter, 
and  finally  winding  up  as  a  successful  novelist,  all 
of  which  the  world  knows  have  been  Mr.  Dickens's 
experiences.  In  fact,  it  is  generally  believed  to 
occupy  the  same  position  to  Dickens  as  "Pendennis" 
does  to  Thackeray. 

The  peculiar  commencement  and  description  of 
Blunderstone  Rookery  ;  the  birth  of  the  posthumous 
child  ;  the  second  marriage  of  David's  mother  to 
Murdstone  ;  his  early  days,  and  the  wonderful  croco- 


i88  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1849. 

dile  book ;  Peggotty,  and  the  courtship  of  Barkis  the 
carrier,  leaving  his  offerings  behind  the  door  ;  Mrs, 
Gummldge,  Steerforth,  the  famous  MIcawbers,  Betsy 
Trotwood,  the  kind-hearted  aunt,  and  her  aversion 
to  donkeys  ;  Mr.  Dick  and  his  memorial,  and  his 
inability  to  keep  Charles  I.  out  of  It ;  David's  love 
of  darling  Dora  Spenlow,  their  marriage,  and  the 
dreadful  troubles  encountered  In  house-keeping,  her 
death,  and  his  consequent  journey  to  Switzerland, 
and  coming  home,  and  marrying  Agnes  WIckheld  ; 
the  vlUanies  of  Uriah  Heep  ;  the  eccentricities  of  Miss 
]\Iowcher,  the  corn  extractor ;  Emily,  the  poor 
seduced  girl ;  the  magnificent  description  of  the  storm 
at  Yarmouth,  In  which  Steerforth  the  betrayer  meets 
his  death,  while  Ham,  seeking  to  save  him,  meets  the 
same  fate  ;  the  love  of  Daniel  Peggotty  for  his  niece, 
and  his  patient  search  after  her  ;  Traddles  and  his 
ultimate  success,  and  the  starting  off  to  the  Antipodes 
of  the  IMIcawbers,  Peggotty,  Martha,  Emily,  and  Mrs. 
Gummldge,  their  life  in  the  bush,  and  how  they 
prospered,  are  each  and  all  described  in  such  glowing 
language,  destitute  of  exaggeration,  and  bearing  so 
strongly  the  Impress  of  truth  and  reality,  that  they 
cannot  fail  to  charm  and  delight  the  reader.  It 
would  be  impertinent  further  to  point  out — to  our 
mind — the  best  points  In  tlie  book,  and  one  can  but 
thank  God  that  such  a  writer  has  penned  a  work 
that  can  never  be  too  much  read  or  admired. 

In  the  latest  edition  of  "  David   Copperfield" — in 
the  "  Charles  Dickens  Edition  " — the  author  takes  us 


1849]  "DAVID   COPPERFIELD."  1S9 

into  his  confidence,  and  tells  us  that  it  was  his 
favourite  child.  He  says  : — "  I  remarked,  in  the 
original  preface  to  this  book,  that  I  did  not  find  it 
easy  to  get  sufficiently  away  from  it,  in  the  first  sen- 
sations of  having  finished,  to  refer  to  it  with  the 
composure  which  this  formal  heading  would  seem  to 
require.  My  interest  in  it  was  so  recent  and  strong, 
and  my  mind  so  divided  between  pleasure  and  regret 
—  pleasure  in  the  achievement  of  a  long  design, 
regret  in  the  separation  from  many  companions — that 
I  was  in  danger  of  Avearying  the  reader  with  personal 
confidences  and  private  emotions.  Besides  which, 
all  that  I  could  have  said  of  the  story,  to  any  pur- 
pose, I  had  endeavoured  to  say  in  it.  It  would  con- 
cern the  reader  little,  perhaps,  to  know  how  sorrow- 
fully the  pen  is  laid  down  at  the  close  of  a  two 
years'  imaginative  task  ;  or  how  an  author  feels  as  if 
he  were  dismissing  some  portion  of  himself  into  the 
shadowy  world,  when  a  crowd  of  the  creatures  of 
his  brain  are  going  from  him  for  ever.  Yet  I  had 
nothing  else  to  tell ;  unless,  indeed,  I  w^ere  to  confess 
(which  might  be  of  less  moment  still)  that  no  one 
can  ever  believe  this  narrative  in  the  reading,  more 
than  I  believed  it  in  the  writing.  So  true  are  these 
avowals  at  the  present  day,  that  I  can  only  now  take 
the  reader  into  one  confidence  more.  Of  all  my 
books,  I  like  this  the  best.  It  will  easily  be  believed 
that  I  am  a  fond  parent  of  every  child  of  my  fancy, 
and  that  no  one  can  love  them  as  dearly  as  I  love 
them  ;  but,  like  many  fond  parents,  I   have,  in  my 


iQO  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKEXS.  [1S49. 

heart  of  hearts,  a  favourite  child,  and  his  name  is 
David  Copperfield." 

At  the  Strand  Theatre,  on  October  2 1st,  1850, 
Almar's  adaptation  was  played  under  the  title  of 
"  Born  with  a  Caul."  The  Surrey  Theatre,  in  the 
following  month,  had  a  much  better  version  ;  Mr. 
Thomas  Mead  as  Peggotty,  and  the  renowned  Mr. 
Widdicomb  combining  the  characters  of  Miss 
Mov/cher  and  Mr.  Micav/ber.  But  the  most  success- 
ful representation  of  all  was  '' The  Deal  Boatman" 
at  Drury  Lane  theatre,  two  or  three  years  since,  in 
two  acts,  by  Mr.  Burnand. 

Mr.  Dickens  was  living  at  this  time  at  No.  i, 
Devonshire  Terrace,  in  the  New  Road.  In  his 
"  American  Notes,"  in  "  Martin  Chuzzlewit,"  and 
elsevv^here  in  his  writings,  and  occasionally  in  his 
speeches,  he  had  expressed  his  disapproval  of  capital 
punishment.  He  now  resolved  to  be  a  witness  at  a 
"  hanging  match  " — as  it  is  frequently  called  by  the 
lower  orders — and  afterwards  publish  his  experiences. 
The  trial  of  the  notorious  Mannings  had  recently 
startled  society,  and  it  was  thought  that  the  hanging 
of  such  notable  wretches  would  at  least  afford  a  fair 
specimen  of  the  riot  and  demoralization  attending 
a  London  public  execution.  For  the  purpose  of 
seeing  the  whole  ceremony,  and  giving  the  institu- 
tion a  fair  trial,  he  left  his  house  with  a  friend,  on 
the  evening  previous,  determined  to  make  a  night 
of  it  in  the  crowd  fronting  the  Southwark  scaffold. 
The  following;  letter  to  the  Times  was  the  result : — 


1S40.]  ON  CAPITAL  PUXISIIMEXT.  19X 

"  I  was  a  witness  of  the  execution  at  Horsemonger 
Lane  this  morning.  I  went  there  with  the  intention 
of  observing  the  crowd  gathered  to  behold  it,  and  I 
had  excellent  opportunities  of  doing  so  at  intervals 
all  through  the  night,  and  continuously  from  day- 
break until  after  tlie  spectacle  was  over.  I  do  not 
address  you  on  the  subject  with  any  intention  of  dis- 
cussing the  abstract  question  of  capital  punishment, 
or  any  of  the  arguments  of  its  opponents  or  advo- 
cates. I  simply  wish  to  turn  this  dreadful  expe- 
rience to  some  account  for  the  general  good,  by 
taking  the  readiest  and  most  public  means  of  advert- 
ing to  an  intimation  given  by  Sir  G.  Grey,  in  the  last 
session  of  Parliament,  that  the  Government  might  be 
induced  to  give  its  support  to  a  measure  making  the 
infliction  of  capital  punishment  a  private  solemnity 
within  the  prison-walls  (v/ith  such  guarantees  for  the 
last  sentence  of  the  law  being  inexorably  and  surely 
administered  as  should  be  satisfactory  to  the  public 
at  large),  and  of  most  earnestly  beseeching  Sir  G. 
Grey,  as  a  solemn  duty  which  he  owes  to  society, 
and  a  responsibility  which  he  cannot  for  ever  put 
away,  to  originate  such  a  legislative  change  himself. 
I  believe  that  a  sight  so  inconceivably  awful  as  the 
wickedness  and  levity  of  the  immense  crowd  collected 
at  that  execution  this  morning,  could  be  imagined  by 
no  man,  and  could  be  presented  in  no  heathen  land 
under  the  sun.  The  horrors  of  the  crime  which  brought 
the  wretched  murderers  to  it,  faded  in  my  mind 
before  the  atrocious  bearing,  looks,  and  language  of 


192  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1849. 

the  assembled  spectators.  When  I  came  upon  the 
scene  at  midnight,  the  shriUness  of  the  cries  and 
howls  that  were  raised  from  time  to  time,  denoting 
that  they  came  from  a  concourse  of  boys  and  girls 
assembled  in  the  best  places,  made  my  blood  run 
cold.  As  the  night  went  on,  screeching  and  laughing, 
and  yelling  in  strong  chorus  of  parodies  on  negro 
melodies,  with  substitutions  of  '  Mrs.  Manning '  for 
*  Susannah,'  and  the  like,  were  added  to  these.  When 
the  day  dawned,  thieves,  low  prostitutes,  ruffians, 
and  vagabonds  of  every  kind,  flocked  on  to  the 
ground,  with  every  variety  of  offensive  and  foul 
behaviour.  Fightings,  faintings,  whistlings,  imita- 
tions of  Punch,  brutal  jokes,  tumultuous  demon- 
strations of  indecent  delight,  when  swooning  women 
were  dragged  out  of  the  crowd  by  the  police  with  their 
dresses  disordered,  gave  a  new  zest  to  the  general 
entertainment.  When  the  sun  rose  brightly — as  it 
did  —  it  gilded  thousands  upon  thousands  of  up- 
turned faces,  so  inexpressibly  odious  in  their  brutal 
mirth  or  callousness,  that  a  man  had  cause  to  feel 
ashamed  of  the  shape  he  wore,  and  to  shrink  from 
himself,  as  fashioned  in  the  image  of  the  Devil. 
When  the  two  miserable  creatures  who  attracted  all 
this  ghastly  sight  about  them  were  turned  quivering 
into  the  air,  there  was  no  more  emotion,  no  more 
pity,  no  more  thought  that  two  immortal  souls  had 
gone  to  judgment,  no  more  restraint  in  any  of  the 
previous  obscenities,  than  if  the  name  of  Christ  had 
never  been  heard  in  this  world,  and  there  were  no 


1849.]  ON  CAPITAL  PUNISHMENT.  193* 

belief  among  men  but  that  they  perished  like  the 
beasts.  I  have  seen,  habitually,  some  of  the  worst 
sources  of  general  contamination  and  corruption  in 
this  country,  and  I  think  there  are  not  many  phases 
of  London  life  that  could  surprise  me.  I  am 
solemnly  convinced  that  nothing  that  ingenuity  could 
devise  to  be  done  in  this  city,  in  the  same  compass 
of  time,  could  work  such  ruin  as  one  public  execu- 
tion, and  I  stand  astounded  and  appalled  by  the 
wickedness  it  exhibits.  I  do  not  believe  that  any 
community  can  prosper  where  such  a  scene  of  horror 
and  demoralization  as  was  enacted  this  morning  out- 
side Horsemonger  Lane  Gaol,  is  presented  at  the 
very  doors  of  good  citizens,  and  is  passed  by,  un- 
known or  forgotten.  And  when,  in  our  prayers  and 
thanksgivings  for  the  season,  we  are  humbly  express- 
ing before  God  our  desire  to  remove  the  moral  evils 
of  the  land,  I  would  ask  your  readers  to  consider 
whether  it  is  not  a  time  to  think  of  this  one,  and  to 
root  it  out. 

"  Tuesday ,  November  i^th!' 
The  great  question  of  "  public  hanging  "  occupied 
Dickens's  attention  for  some  time  after.  The  horrors 
of  that  night  and  the  morning  preceding  the  Manning 
execution  he  could  not  readily  forget.  Some  days 
after  he  wrote  to  the  TimeSy  he  addressed  a  long 
letter  to  his  friend  Douglas  Jerrold,  who  was  adverse 
to  hanging,  but  thought  that  whilst  it  continued  in 
the  land,  it  should  take  place  in  public.  Dickens 
thus  remonstrates  with  his  friend  : — "  In  a  letter  I 


19^  LIFE    OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1849 

have  received  from  G.  this  morning"  he  quotes  a 
recent  letter  from  you,  in  which  you  deprecate  the 
'mystery'  of  private  hanging. 

'^  Will  you  consider  what  punishment  there  is, 
except  death,  to  which  '  mystery '  does  not  attach  ? 
Will  you  consider  whether  all  the  improvements  in 
prisons  and  punishments  that  have  been  made  within 
the  last  twenty  years  have  or  have  not  been  all  pro- 
ductive of  ^mystery?'  I  can  remember  very  well 
when  the  silent  system  v/as  objected  to  as  mysterious, 
and  opposed  to  the  genius  of  English  society.  Yet 
there  is  no  question  that  it  has  been  a  great  benefit. 
The  prison  vans  are  mysterious  vehicles ;  but  surely 
they  are  better  than  the  old  system  of  marching 
prisoners  through  the  streets  chained  to  a  long  chain, 
like  the  galley-slaves  in  '■  Don  Quixote.'  Is  there  no 
mystery  about  transportation,  and  our  manner  of 
sending  men  away  to  Norfolk  Island,  or  elsewhere  ? 
None  in  abandoning  the  use  of  a  man's  name,  and 
knowing  him  only  by  a  number }  Is  not  the  whole 
improved  and  altered  system,  from  the  beginning  to 
end,  a  mystery  t  I  wish  I  could  induce  you  to  feel 
justified  in  leaving  that  word  to  the  platform  people, 
on  the  strength  of  your  knowledge  of  what  crime 
was,  and  of  what  its  punishments  were,  in  the  days 
when  there  was  no  mystery  connected  with  these 
things,  and  all  was  as  open  as  Bridewell  when  Ned 
Ward  went  to  see  the  women  v/hipped." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


"HOUSEHOLD  WORDS.  — THE   GUILD   OF 
LITERATURE. 

OTWITHSTANDING  past  experiences  in 
connection  with  the  Daily  Neivs,  Mr. 
Dickens  was  still  desirous  of  some  peri- 
odical in  which  he  could  hold  frequent  and  regular 
intercourse  with  his  readers.  Early  in  1850,  our 
indefatigable  author  projected  the  Household  Words, 
a  name  which  was  more  or  less  familiar  to  the 
public  through  a  line  in  Shakspeare's  Henry  V. — 
"  Familiar  in  their  mouths  as  '  Household  Wordsl " 
It  is  just  worth  while  in  passing  to  say  that  this 
motto  was  a  favourite  with  Mr.  Dickens,  He  often 
used  it  in  conversation,  long  before  a  periodical 
of  the  kind  was  dreamt  of.  As  far  back  as  his 
first  visit  to  America,  when  he  was  addressing 
the  young  men  of  Boston,  and  Washington  Irving, 
Holmes,  and  other  celebrities  were  present,  he 
said — "  You  have  in  America  great  writers  — 
great  writers — who  will  live  in  all  time,  and  are 
as    familiar    to    our    lips    as    household  words."  * 

*  Feb.  I,  1842. 


196  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1850. 

And    afterwards,    in   his  speeches,   the    motto    was 
•not  uncommon. 

On  Saturday,  March  30th,  1850,  was  issued  the 
first  number  of  ^^ Household  Words,  price  2d.,  con- 
ducted by  Charles  Dickens." 

No  article  had  the  name  of  its  author  appended, 
and  when  the  "Conductor"  proposed  to  Jerrold 
that  he  should  contribute  to  its  pages,  but  added 
that  his  name  could  not  appear,  as  the  journal  was 
anonymous,  the  wit  replied,  ''Ay,  I  see  it  is,  for 
there's  the  name  of  Charles  Dickens  on  every 
page." 

Amongst  the  original  contributors  to  Household 
Words  may  be  mentioned  John  Forster,  W.  H.  Wills, 
George  Augustus  Sala,  Moy  Thomas,  John  HoUings- 
head.  Miss  Martineau,  Professor  Morley,  Edmund 
Yates,  Dr.  Charles  Mackay,  Andrew  Halliday, 
Edmund  Oilier,  and  many  other  talented  writers.  It 
was  the  great  delight  of  the  ''Conductor"  to  draw 
around  him  the  rising  talent — the  new  men  who 
gave  evidence  of  literary  ability ;  and  m.any  a 
mark  have  they  made  in  the  pages  of  Household 
Words  ! 

Connected  with  Ho2isehold  Words,  at  the  end  of 
each  month,  appeared  the  Household  Narrative,  con- 
taining a  history  of  the  preceding  month.  It  began 
in  April  of  this  year,  and  involved  Mr.  Dickens  in 
a  dispute  with  the  Stamp  Office.  An  information 
was  laid  against  the  Narrative,  it  being  contended 
that,  under  the  Stamp  Duty  Act,  it  wp,s  a  newspaper; 


1850-51.]  '^HOUSEHOLD    WORDS."  197 

but,  on  appeal  to  the  Court  of  Exchequer,  the  Barons 
decided  in  I\Ir.  Dickens's  favour,  and  thus  the  first 
step  to  the  repeal  of  the  newspaper  stamp  was  given. 
The  publication  was  not  a  success,  people  preferring 
to  pay  for  amusement  and  information  combined, 
rather  than  for  the  latter  in  a  purely  statistical  form. 
It  stopped  at  about  the  70th  number,  and  sets  are 
now  rare. 

But  to  return  to  HouseJwld  Words.  A  friend  who 
knew  Dickens  writes: — "His  editorship  of  this 
periodical  was  no  nominal  post.  Papers  sent  in  for 
approval  invariably  went  through  a  preliminary 
*  testing  '  by  the  acting  editor  (Mr.  W.  H.  Wills) ;  but 
all  those  which  survived  this  ordeal  were  con- 
scientiously read  and  judged  by  Mr.  Dickens,  who 
again  read  all  the  accepted  contributions  in  proof, 
and  made  numerous  and  valuable  alterations  in 
them."  Besides  the  ordinary  tales  and  articles  upon 
popular  topics,  there  appeared  in  HoiiscJiold  Words, 
in  good  time  for  the  festive  season,  and  during  the  first 
year,  a  collection  of  stories,  connected  entirely  with 
Christmas, — viz.  "A  Christmas  Tree,"  and  ''  A  Christ- 
mas Pudding,"  "  Christmas  in  the  Navy,  in  Lodgings, 
in  India,  in  the  Frozen  Regions,  in  the  Bush,  and 
among  the  Sick  and  Poor  of  London,"  and  "  Plouse- 
hold  Christmas  Carols." 

In  the  ensuing  January,  Dickens  commenced 
therein  his  "  Child's  History  of  England,"  which  in 
the  following  year  was  reprinted  in  a  separate  form 
by  Messrs.  Bradbury  and  Evans,  and  inscribed  : — 


193  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKEXS.  [1850-51. 

*'  TO  MY  OWN  DEAR  CHILDHEN, 

WHOM  I  HOPE  IT  MAY  HELP,  BY-AND-BY,  TO  READ  WITH 

INTEREST  LARGER  AND  BETTER  BOOKS  ON  THE 

SAME  SUBJECT." 

The  Battle  of  Hastings  is  one  of  the  finest  and 
most  marvellous  pieces  of  descriptive  writing  in  the 
**  Child's  History,"  which — as  has  been  well  remarked 
— "  might  be  read  by  many  children  of  larger  growth 
with  much  profit."  This  is  an  extract  from  his 
glowing  description  : — ''  The  sun  rose  high  and  sank, 
and  the  battle  still  raged.  Through  all  the  wild 
October  day,  the  clash  and  din  resounded  in  the  air. 
In  the  red  sunset,  in  the  white  moonlight,  heaps  upon 
heaps  of  dead  men  lay  strewn,  a  dreadful  spectacle, 
all  over  the  ground.  King  Harold,  wounded  with  an 
arrow  in  the  eye,  was  nearly  blind.  His  brothers 
were  already  killed.  Twenty  Norman  knights,  whose 
battered  armour  had  fiashed  fiery  and  golden  all  day 
long,  and  now  looked  silvery  in  the  moonlight, 
dashed  forward  to  seize  the  royal  banner  from  the 
English  knights  and  soldiers,  still  faithfully  collected 
round  their  blinded  king.  The  king  received  a 
mortal  wound  and  dropped." 

If  the  remainder  of  the  description  is  turned  into 
blank  verse  (as  Byron  did  when  copying  "Werner" 
from  the  "  Canterbury  Tales "  of  Miss  Lee),  by 
adding  two  words,  and  expunging  some  few  others, 
we  obtain  this  glowing  and  beautiful  narration  : — 


1851.]  *'  HOUSEHOLD    WORDS:'  199 

"  The  English  broke  and  fled. 
The  Normans  rallied,  and  the  day  was  lost ! 
Oh,  what  a  sight  beneath  the  moon  and  stars  ! 
The  lights  were  shining  in  the  victor's  tent 
(Pitch'd  near  the  spot  where  blinded  Harold  fell) ; 
He  and  his  knights  carousing  were  within ; 
Soldiers  with  torches,  going  to  and  fro. 
Sought  for  the  corpse  of  Harold  'mongst  the  dead. 
The  Warrior,  work'd  with  stones  and  golden  thread;. 
Lay  low,  all  torn,  and  soil'd  with  English  blood. 
And  the  three  Lions  kept  watch  o'er  the  field ! " 

The  work  has  never  been  reprinted  at  a  lower  price 
than  the  old  three-volume  form,  and  of  course  it 
forms  no  part  of  the  recent  "  Cheap  Editions  "  and 
the  "  Charles  Dickens  Edition  ;  "  but,  now  that  extra 
attention  will  be  directed  to  the  writings  of  Mr. 
Dickens,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  it  may  be  reprinted 
at  a  moderate  price. 

The  second  Christmas  number  (185 1)  of  Household 

Words  consisted  of  nine  stories  about  Christmas,  and 

how  it  was  held,  and  what  it  was  like  in  different 

companies  and  countries — in  fact,  very  similar  to  the 

preceding  number. 

At  the  Sixth  Annual  Dinner  of  the  General  Thea- 
trical Fund  (April  14,  185 1),  the  conductors  again 
begged  Mr.  Dickens  to  preside.  His  speech  was 
short,  but  exceedingly  happy.  Speaking  of  the 
Theatrical  Fund,  he  said  : — 

"  It  is  a  society  in  which  the  word  exclusiveness  is 
wholly  unknown.     It  is  a  society  which  includes  every 


200  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1851. 

actor,  whether  he  be  Benedick  or  Hamlet,   or  the 
Ghost,  or  the   Bandit,  or  the  court-physician,  or,  in 
the  one  person,  the  whole  King's  army.     He  may  do 
the  "'  light  business,''  or  the  "  heavy,"  or  the  comic,  or 
the   eccentric.     He  may  be  the  captain  who  courts 
the  young  lady,  whose  uncle  still  unaccountably  per- 
sists in  dressing  himself  in  a  costume  one  hundred 
years  older  than  his  time.     Or  he  may  be  the  young 
lady's  brother  in  the  white  gloves  and  inexpressibles, 
whose  duty  in  the  family  appears  to  be  to  listen  to 
the  female  members  of  it  whenever  they  sing,  and  to 
shake  hands  with  everybody  between  all  the  verses. 
Or  he  may  be  the  baron  who  gives  the  fete,  and  v/ho 
sits  uneasily  on  the  sofa  under  a  canopy  with  the 
baroness  while  the  fete  is  going  on.  Or  he  may  be  the 
peasant  at  the  fete  who  comes  on  the  stage  to  swell 
the  drinking  chorus,  and  who,  it  may  be  observed, 
always  turns  his  glass  upside  down  before  he  begins 
to  drink  out  of  it.     Or  he  may  be  the  clown  who 
takes   away  the   doorstep   of  the   house   where  the 
evening  party  is  gohig  on.    Or  he  may  be  the  gentle- 
man who  issues  out  of  the  house  on  the  false  alarm, 
and  is  precipitated  into  the  area.     Or,  to  come  to  the 
actresses,  she  may  be  the  fairy  who  resides  for  ever 
in  a  revolving  star,  with  an  occasional  visit  to  a  bower 
or  a  palace.     Or  the  actor  may  be  the  armed  head 
of  the  witch's  cauldron ;  or  even  that  extraordinary 
witch,  concerning  whom  I  have  observed,  in  country 
places,  that  he  is  much  less  like  the  notion  formed 
from  the  description  of  Hopkins  than  the  Malcolm  or 


e35i.]  the   guild   of  LITERATURE.  201 

Donalbain  of  the  previous  scenes.  This  society,  in 
short,  says,  "  Be  you  what  you  may,  be  you  actor  or 
actress,  be  your  path  in  your  profession  never  so 
high,  or  never  so  low,  never  so  haughty,  or  never 
so  humble,  v/e  offer  you  the  means  of  doing 
good  to  yourselves,  and  of  doing  good  to  your 
brethren." 

In  June,  185 1,  a  project — which,  it  is  said,  Mr. 
Dickens  had  long  had  in  contemplation — v/as  brought 
forward  by  Sir  Edward  Bulwer  Lytton,  namely,  the 
founding  of  a  Guild  of  Literature  and  Art ;  in  reality, 
a  provident  fund  and  benefit  society  for  unfortunate 
literary  men  and  artists.  From  it  the  proper  persons 
would  receive  continual  or  occasional  relief,  as  tiie 
case  might  be  ;  but  the  leading  feature  was  the 
"  Provident  Fund,"  to  be  composed  of  monies  de- 
posited by  the  authors  themselves,  when  they  were 
in  a  position  to  be  able  to  lay  by  something.  Dickens 
and  Sir  Edward  Bulwer  Lytton  (since  a  peer)  wTre 
the  most  active  promoters.  The  precise  plan  of  the 
"  Guild "  was  discussed  at  Lord  Lytton's  seat,  at 
Knebworth,  the  November  previously.  There  had 
been  three  amateur  performances,  by  Dickens  and 
others,  of  ''  Every  Man  in  his  Humour,"  for  the 
gratification  of  his  lordship  and  his  neighbouring 
friends,  when  it  w'as  arranged  that  his  lordship  should 
write  a  comedy,  and  Dickens  and  Mark  Lemon  a 
farce.  The  comedy  was  entitled  ''  Not  so  Bad  as 
we  Seem,"  and  the  farce  bore  the  name  of  "  Mrs. 


202  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1S51. 

Nightingale's  Diary."  The  first  performance  took 
place  at  Devonshire  House,  before  the  Queen,  the 
Prince  Consort,  and  the  Court  circles  ;  and  afterwards 
at  the  Hanover  Square  Rooms,  and  at  many  of  the 
large  provincial  tov/ns  (Bath,  Bristol,  &c.).  At  Devon- 
shire House,  not  the  least  incident  occurred  to  shade 
what  a  late  Drury-Lane  manager  might,  in  his  own 
Titanic  way,  have  called  "  the  blaze  of  triumph." 
From  the  first  moment  that  the  scheme  was  made 
known  to  her  Majesty  and  Prince  Albert,  both  the 
Queen  and  the  Prince  manifested  the  liveliest 
interest  in  its  success.  The  Duke  of  Devonshire, 
with  a  munificence  that  made  the  name  of  his 
Grace  a  proverb  for  liberality,  dedicated  his  m^an- 
sion  to  the  cause  of  Literature  and  Art,  and  his 
house  was  for  many  days  in  possession  of  the  ama- 
teurs. 

The  play  began  at  half-past  nine.  Her  Majesty^ 
Prince  Albert,  and  the  Royal  Family  occupying  a 
box  erected  for  the  occasion.  The  seats  v/ere  filled 
by  the  most  illustrious  for  rank  and  genius.  There 
was  the  Duchess  of  Sutherland  ;  there  was  the 
*'  Iron  Duke,"  in  his  best  temiper ;  there  was 
Macaulay,  Chevalier  Bunsen,  Van  der  Weyer — them- 
selves authors  ;  in  fact,  all  the  highest  representatives 
of  the  rank,  beauty,  and  genius  of  England,  and  her 
foreign  Ambassadors. 

The  list  of  the  performers,  and  the  parts  taken  by 
them,  is  a  curiosity  in  its  way  : — 


1351.]  THE   GUILD   OF  LITERATURE. 


203 


MEN. 


The  Duke  of 
Middlesex, 

The  Earl  of 
Loftus, 


Peers  attached  to 
the  son  of  James 
)•    il.,     commonly  -  T^,     ^^  m      r^       ^^ 
I     called  the    First  I  ^'-  ^"'"'y  '^°"'="''- 

Pretender 


Mr.  Frank  Stone. 


Mr.  Charles  Dickens. 


Lord  Wilmot,  a  young   man   at 

the    head   of  the   mode  more 

than  a  century  ago,  son  to  Lord  C 

Loftus       ...  ...  ...      J 

Mr.  Shadowly  Softhead,  a  young  '\ 

gentleman  from  the  City, friend  r  Mr.  Douglas  Jerrold. 

and  double  to  Lord  Wilmot...  ) 
Mr.  Hardman,  a  rising  Member  | 

of  Parliament,  and  adherent  to  >  Mr.  John  Forster. 

Sir  Robert  Walpole      j 

Sir  Geoffrey  Thornside,  a  eentle-)  ^,,     iv/r    i  t 

r  ^     J  r     -1         J         .    >  Mr.  Mark  Lemon, 
man  or  good  iamily  and  estate  ) 

Mr.  Goodenough  Eacy,  in  busi- ') 

ness,  highly  respectable,  and  a  >  Mr.  E.  W.  Topham. 

friend  to  Sir  Geoffrey } 

Lord  Le  Trimmer, ")  Frequenters  ")  Mr.  Peter  Cunningham. 

Sir  Thomas  Timid,  [    of  Will's     '>  Mr.  Westland  Marston. 

Colonel  Fhnt,  )  Coffeehouse  )  Mr.  R.  H.  Home. 

Mr.  Jacob  Tonson,  a  Bookseller  .     Mr.  Charles  Knight. 

Smart,  Valet  to  Lord  Wilmot ...     Mr.  Wilkie  CoDins. 

Hod^e,  Servant  to  Sir   Geoffrey  )  t\t     t  u     "-n       •  1 
r,.p        •  1  ^  >  Mr.  John  lenniel. 

1  nornside,..  ...  ...)■' 

Paddy    O'Sullivan,   Mr.   Fallen's)  iv/r     n   u       -n  u 
T  -^  11     J  >  Mr.  Robert  Bell. 

Landlord       ...  ...  ...  ) 

Mr.    David   Fallen,  Grub  Street,  7  tit      a         .     -o        a  n   a 
A     I  J  T)        ui  f  Mr.  Augustus  Ee?,  A.R.A, 

Author  and  Pamphleteer      ...  j  ^  ^^' 

Lord  Strongbow,  Sir  John  Bruin,  Coffeehouse  Loungers,  Drawers, 

Newsmen,  Watchmen,  &c..  Sec. 

WOMEN. 

Lucy,  daughter  to    Sir   Geoffrey) -^r      r- 

n^u        ■:>  [  Mrs.  Compton. 

1  nornside     ...  ...  ...  )  ^ 

Barbara,  daughter  to  jMr.  Easy...     'Miss  Ellen  Chaplin. 

"^rhe  Silent  Ladv  or  Deadman's  Lane. 


204  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1851- 

The  Royal  party  paid  the  deepest  attention  to  the 
progress  of  the  play,  Her  Majesty  frequently  leading 
the  applause.  And  when  the  curtain  fell  upon  the 
three  hours'  triumph,  Her  Majesty  rose  in  her  box, 
and  by  the  most  cordial  demonstration  of  approval, 
"■  commanded  "  (for  such  may  be  the  word)  the  re- 
appearance of  all  the  actors,  again  to  receive  the 
Royal  approval  of  their  efforts.  Nor  did  the  Queen 
and  Prince  merely  bestow  applause.  Her  Majesty  took 
seventeen  places  for  herself,  visitors,  and  suite ;  and, 
further,  as  a  joint  contribution  of  herself  and  the 
Prince,  headed  the  list  of  subscriptions  with  £i^0, 
making  the  sum  total  of  ;^225.  It  is  said  that  the 
receipts  of  the  night  exceeded  ^^  1,000.  Another  re- 
presentation at  Devonshire  House  took  place  on  the 
following  Tuesday,  the  admission  being  £2.  The 
farce  written  for  the  occasion,  called  ''  Mrs.  Night- 
ingale's Diary,"  was  performed,  and  Charles  Dickens 
and  Mark  Lemon  sustained  the  principal  characters. 
A  critic  at  the  time  remarked,  "  Both  these  gen- 
tlemen are  admirable  actors.  It  is  by  no  means 
amateur  playing  with  them.  Dickens  seizes  the  strong 
points  of  a  character,  bringing  them  out  as  effectively 
upon  the  stage  as  his  pen  undyingly  marks  them  upon 
paper.  Lemon  has  all  the  ease  of  a  finished  per- 
former, with  a  capital  relish  for  comedy  and  broad 
farce." 

For  the  representations  in  the  provinces  a  portable 
theatre  was  constructed,  Messrs.  Clarkson  Stanfield, 
David  Roberts,  Grieve,  and  others,  painting  the 
scenes,  &c.,  which  are  said  to  have  been  very  beau- 


1851-52.]  THE  GUILD  OF  LITERATURE.  205 

tiful.  The  funds  raised  were  unfortunately,  by  a  flaw 
in  the  act  of  parhament,  unintentionally  tied  up  for 
a  number  of  years,  but  on  Saturday,  July  29th,  1865, 
the  surviving  members  of  the  Fund  proceeded  to  the 
neighbourhood  of  Stevenage,  near  the  magnificent 
seat  of  the  president,  Lord  Lytton,  to  inspect  three 
houses  built  in  the  gothic  style  on  the  ground  given 
by  him  for  that  purpose.  An  enterprising  publican 
in  the  vicinity  had  just  previously  opened  his  estab- 
lishment, which  bore  the  very  appropriate  sign  of 
"  Our  Mutual  Friend  " — Mr.  Dickens's  then  latest 
work — and  caused  considerable  merriment. 

So  popular  had  Mr.  Dickens  become  in  the 
character  of  president  or  chairman  at  the  anniver- 
saries of  benevolent  societies,  that  the  gardeners 
begged  him  to  officiate  for  them  at  their  dinner  and 
meeting  of  the  *'  Gardeners'  Benevolent  Institution." 
The  affair  came  off  on  the  14th  June,  1852,  at  the 
London  Tavern.  The  splendid  display  of  flowers  was 
the  result  of  a  very  hearty  combination  of  the  very 
best  efforts  of  the  best  gardeners,  and  Mr.  Dickens 
(to  use  his  own  phrase)  ^'^  burst  into  bloom  "  upon  the 
culture  of  flowers  and  fruits  in  such  a  way  as  to 
astonish  his  auditory. 

The  Household  Words  Christmas  number  for  1852 
was  entitled  "  A  Round  of  Stories  by  the  Christmas 
Fire,"  told  by  A  Poor  Relation — A  Child — Somebody 
—An  Old  Nurse— The  "  Boots  "—A  Grandfather— 
A  Charw^oman — A  Deaf  Playmate — A  Guest — and 
A  Mother. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 


"BLEAK  HOUSE." — LEIGH   HUNT. 


WO  years  had  now  elapsed  since  the  com- 
pletion of  "  David  Copperfield/'  and  a  new 
novel  was  announced,  to  appear  in  the  old 
familiar  serial  form,  under  the  title  of  ^' Bleak 
House."  It  is  not  generally  known,  we  believe,  that 
the  name  "  Bleak  H^ouse "  was  taken  from  that  tall, 
solitary  brick  house  which  stands  away  from  the 
others,  and  rising  far  above  them,  at  Broadstairs — 
the  house  where  for  one,  if  not  for  two  seasons,  Mr. 
Dickens  resided.  This  charming  little  town  was  for 
many  years  Mr.  Dickens's  favourite  seaside  resort — 
^n  fact,  "  Our  Watering  Place,"  as  he  called  it  in  an 
article  in  Household  VVoi'ds  some  years  since.  The 
house  in  question  is  a  square  sullen  structure — hard 
and  bleak,  and  of  course  it  is  now  one  of  the  lions  of 
the  place,  the  guide-books  and  local  photographers 
setting  great  store  by  it.  Just  below  Bleak  House,  on 
the  point  that  runs  out  to  form  the  harbour,  is  the 
Tartar  Frigate,  the  cosiest  little  sailor's  inn,  selling  the 
strongest  of  tobacco,  and  the  strongest-smelling  rum 


i8s2.]  *' BLEAK  HOUSE."  ao/ 

that  is  to  be  met  with  around  the  coast.  Close  by  is 
a  rope-house,  decorated  with  wonderful  figure-heads, 
each  having  a  wild  story  of  shipwreck  to  tell.  As 
you  pass  the  little  Tartar  Frigate,  with  its  red  blinds 
and  little  door,  you  know  what  are  the  sounds  that 
are  to  be  heard  there  any  night  during  the  winter. 
The  very  walls  must  have  long  ago  learnt  ''  Tom 
Bowling"  and  the  "Bay  of  Biscay"  by  heart,  and 
would  now  be  very  thankful  for  a  fresh  song.  Dickens 
knew  the  little  inn  very  well,  and,  under  the  title  of 
"  The  Tartar  Frigate,"  he  gave  in  Household  Words, 
some  years  since,  an  admirable  description  of  this 
little  town  with  a  tiny  harbour.  The  great  novelist 
v/as  fond  of  genuine  sailors  —  the  hardy,  good- 
tempered  fellows  of  Deal  and  Eroadstairs — brave  as 
lions,  and  guileless  as  children  ;  and  it  was  to  his 
being  so  much  in  their  company  that  he  doubtless 
ovv'ed  his  sailor  look.  Mr.  Arthur  Locker,  whose 
recollections  we  have  before  quoted,  saw  him  only  a 
few  weeks  before  his  death,  when  he  was  "  struck  by 
his  sailor-like  aspect — a  peculiarity  observed  by  many 
other  persons.  Yet,  except  his  two  voyages  to 
America,  he  had  not  been  much  on  the  sea,  and  was 
not,  I  believe,  a  particularly  good  sailor.  But  we  all 
know  his  sympathy  for  seamen,  and  I  think,  without 
being  fanciful,  that  his  nautical  air  may  in  part  be 
attributed  to  early  Portsmouth  associations." 

"  Bleak  House "  ran  through  its  course  of  num- 
bers, and  appeared  in  a  complete  form  in  August  of 
the  following  year : — 


2o8  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1552-53. 

"  DEDICATED, 

AS    A    REMEMBRANCE    OF    OUR 

FRIENDLY    UNION, 

TO    MY    COMPANIONS 

IN    THE 

GUILD  OF    LITERATURE    AND    ART.** 

The  work  was  directed  with  considerable  effect 
against  the  Court  of  Chancery.  Lawyers  and  others 
were  loud  in  their  complaints  at  the  way  in  which 
their  favourite  Court  had  been  assailed ;  but  the 
majority  of  legal  readers,  whether  then  or  even  now 
practising,  or  connected  in  any  shape  or  way  with  the 
Court  in  question — or  even  only  as  unfortunate  suitors 
— can  testify  as  to  the  enormous  waste  of  time,  and 
the  costly  procedure  therein.  Matters  have,  of  late 
years,  somewhat  improved,  but  a  great  deal  yet 
remains  to  be  remedied. 

The  author,  in  his  preface,  took  the  opportunity 
Qf  defending  himself  from  the  remarks  made  upon 
the  supposititious  suit  of  Jarndyce  v.  Jarndyce,*  and 
Krook's  death  by  spontaneous  combustion.  The 
latter  incident  excited  much  controversy  at  the  time, 

*  Suggested,  it  is  believed,  by  the  celebrated  case  of  the 
Jennings'  property.  Dickens  had  previously  brought  an  anta- 
gonist upon  himself  in  the  person  of  Sir  Edward  Sugden  (now 
Lord  St.  Leonards),  in  consequence  of  an  article  in  Household 
Words,  headed  "  Martyrs  in  Chancery,"  on  the  offence  of  Con- 
tempt of  Court,  and  replied  to  by  the  above  eminent  lawyer,  in 
a  letter  to  the  Jlmes  (7th  January,  1851),  giving  a  true  version 
of  the  case  therein  referred  to. 


THE    HOME    OF    CHARLES    DICKENS, 

185c—  i860. 


TAVISTOCK  HOUSE,    TAVISTOCK  SQUARE. 

Before  Dickens  removed  here,  the  house  was  occupied  by  Mr.  Perry,  the  once 
famous  chief  of  the  "  Morning  Chronicle."  Whilst  living  at  Tavistock  House,  "Bleak 
House,"  "A  Child's  History  of  England,"  "Hard  Times,"  "Little  Dorrit,"  "A  Tale 
of  Two  Cities,"  portions  of  "Hunted  Down  "and  the  "Uncommercial  Traveller" 
were  written.     In  i860  our  Author  finally  removed  to  Gad's  Hill. 


'852-53-1  LEIGH  HUNT.  zo^ 

Mr.  G.  H.  Lewes  opposing  the  idea  strongly  ;  but 
Dickens  maintained  his  ground,  and  referred  to  seve- 
ral well-authenticated  cases  in  support  of  the  theory. 

One  of  the  characters  in  the  book,  Harold  Skim- 
pole,  an  incarnation  of  a  canting  and  hypocritical 
scoundrel,  whom  one  longs  to  kick,  was  fastened 
upon  as  the  impersonation  of  that  kind  and  genial 
writer,  the  late  Leigh  Hunt.  Those  who  had  the 
good  fortune  to  know  him  personally,  indignantly 
refuted  the  calumny,  and,  like  other  unfounded  ru- 
mours, the  matter  died  out,  until,  after  his  death,  the 
idea  was  again  bruited  forth. 

Mr.  Thornton  Hunt  (his  eldest  son),  in  preparing  a 
new  edition  of  his  father's  famous  "  Autobiography," 
prefixed  an  introductory  chapter,  in  which  the  follow- 
ing passages  occur : — 

*'  His  animation,  his  sympathy  with  what  was  gay 
and  pleasurable,  his  avowed  doctrine  of  cultivating 
cheerfulness,  were  manifest  on  the  surface,  and  could 
be  appreciated  by  those  who  knew  him  in  society, 
most  probably  even  exaggerated  as  salient  traits,  on 
which  he  himself  insisted  zvit/i.  a  sort  of  gay  and 
OS  ten  iatioiLS  wilfnlncss. 

"  The  anxiety  to  recognize  the  right  of  others,  the 
tendency  to  'refine,'  which  was  noted  by  an  early 
school  companion,  and  the  propensity  to  elaborate 
every  thought,  made  him,  along  with  the  direct  argu- 
ment by  which  he  sustained  his  own  conviction,  re- 
cognize and  almost  admit  all  that  might  be  said  on 
the  opposite  side. 

o 


2IO  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1852-53. 

"  It  is  most  desirable  that  his  qualities  should  be 
known  as  they  were  ;  for  such  deficiencies  as  he  had 
are  the  honest  explanation  of  his  mistakes  ;  while,  as 
the  reader  may  see  from  his  writing  and  his  conduct, 
they  are  not,  as  the  faults  of  which  he  was  accused 
would  be,  incompatible  with  the  noblest  faculties  both 
of  head  and  heart.  To  know  Leigh  Hunt  as  he  was, 
was  to  hold  him  in  reverence  and  love." 

Dickens,  immediately,  in  a  number  oi  All  the  Year 
Rotmd,  under  the  head  of  ''  Leigh  Hunt — a  Remon- 
strance," made  this  statement : — 

*^  Four  or  five  years  ago,  the  writer  of  these  lines 
was  much  pained  by  accidentally  encountering  a 
printed  statement,  'that  Mr.  Leigh  Hunt  was  the 
original  of  Harold  Skimpole  in  Bleak  House.'  The 
writer  of  these  lines  is  the  author  of  that  book. 
The  statement  came  from  America.  It  is  no  disre- 
spect to  that  country,  in  which  the  writer  has,  per- 
haps, as  many  friends  and  as  true  an  interest  as  any 
man  that  lives,  goodhumouredly  to  state  the  fact 
that  he  has,  now  and  then,  been  the  subject  of  para- 
graphs in  Transatlantic  newspapers  more  surprisingly 
destitute  of  all  foundation  in  truth  than  the  wildest 
delusions  of  the  wildest  lunatics.  For  reasons  born 
of  this  experience,  he  let  the  thing  go  by. 

"  But  since  Mr.  Leigh  Hunt's  death  the  statement 
has  been  revived  in  England.  The  delicacy  and 
generosity  evinced  in  its  revival  are  for  the  rather 
late  consideration  of  its  revivers.  The  fact  is  this  : — ■ 
Exactly  those  graces  and  charms  of  manner  which 


1852-53.]  LEIGH  HUNT.  2it 

are  remembered  in  the  words  we  have  quoted  were 
remembered  by  the  author  of  the  work  of  fiction  in 
question  when  he  drew  the  character  in  question. 
Above  all  other  things,  that  *  sort  of  gay  and  osten- 
tatious wilfulness'  in  the  humouring  of  a  subject, 
which  had  many  a  time  delighted  him,  and  impressed 
him  as  being  unspeakably  whimsical  and  attractive, 
was  the  airy  quality  he  wanted  for  the  man  he 
invented.  Partly  for  this  reason,  and  partly  (he  has 
since  often  grieved  to  think)  for  the  pleasure  it 
afforded  him  to  find  that  delightful  manner  repro- 
ducing itself  under  his  hand,  he  yielded  to  the 
temptation  of  too  often  making  the  character  speak 
like  his  old  friend.  He  no  more  thought,  God 
forgive  him  !  that  the  admired  original  would  ever  be 
charged  with  the  imaginary  vices  of  the  fictitious 
creature  than  he  has  himself  ever  thought  of  charging 
the  blood  of  Desdemona  and  Othello  on  the  innocent 
Academy  model  who  sat  for  lago's  leg  in  the  picture. 
Even  as  to  the  mere  occasional  manner,  he  meant  to 
be  so  cautious  and  conscientious  that  he  privately 
referred  the  proof  sheets  of  the  first  number  of  that 
book  to  two  intimate  literary  friends  of  Leigh  Hunt 
(both  still  living),  and  altered  the  whole  of  that  part 
of  the  text  on  their  discovering  too  strong  a  resem- 
blance to  his  '  way.' 

"  He  cannot  see  the  son  lay  this  wreath  on  the 
father's  tomb,  and  leave  him  to  the  possibility  of 
ever  thinking  that  the  present  words  might  have 
righted  the  father's  memory  and  were  left  unwritten. 

O   2 


212  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1852-53. 

He  cannot  know  that  his  own  son  may  have  to 
explain  his  father  when  folly  or  malice  can  wound 
his  heart  no  more,  and  leave  this  task  undone." 

Mr.  Thornton  Hunt,  alluding  to  his  father's 
incapacity  to  understand  figures,  frankly  admitted, 
"  His  so-called  improvidence  resulted  partly  from 
actual  disappointment  in  professional  undertakings, 
partly  from  a  real  incapacity  to  understand  any 
objects  when  they  were  reduced  to  figures,*  and 
partly  from  a  readiness  of  self-sacrifice,  which  was 
the  less  to  be  guessed  by  any  one  who  knew  him,  since 
he  seldom  alluded  to  it,  and  never,  except  in  the 
vaguest  and  most  unintelligible  terms,  hinted  at  its 
real  nature  or  extent." 

Very  recently,  and  since  the  decease  of  the  great 
novelist,  a  similar  statement  about  Skimpole  and 
Leigh  Hunt,  made  in  the  columns  of  a  daily 
journal,-f-  was  thus  replied  to  by  Mr.  Edmund 
Oilier,  an  old  friend  of  the  deceased  essayist : — 
"Dickens  himself  corrected  the  misapprehension  in 
a  paper  in  All  the  Year  Round  towards  the  close  of 
1859,  after  Hunt's  death  ;  and  during  Hunt's  life, 
and  after  the  publication  of  '  Bleak  House,'  he  wrote 
a  most  genial  paper  about  him  in  Household  Words, 

*  Several  anecdotes  have  been  circulated  relative  to  the  late 
Lord  Macaulay's  dislike  to  mathematics,  and,  acting  on  this 
distaste,  he  declined  to  compete  for  honours,  but  was,  in  consi- 
deration of  his  great  proficiency  in  other  studies,  elected  a 
fellow  of  his  college  (Trinity,  Cambridge). 

t  D^i/y  Nezvs,  lothjune,  1870. 


18S2-S3-]  LEIGH  HUNT.  213 

It  Is  also  within  my  knowledge  that  he  expressed  to 
Leigh  Hunt  personally  his  regret  at  the  Skimpole 
snistake." 

Leigh  Hunt  himself,  in  confessing  his  inability  at 
school  to  master  the  multiplication  table,  naively 
adds,  "Nor  do  I  know  it  to  this  dayl"  And  again  : — 
"  I  equally  disliked  Dr.  Franklin,  author  of  '  Poor 
Richard's  Almanack,'  a  heap,  as  it  appeared  to  me,  of 
*  scoundrel  maxims.'*  I  think  I  now  appreciate  Dr. 
Franklin  as  I  ought ;  but,  although  I  can  see  the 
utility  of  such  publications  as  his  almanack  for  a 
rising  commercial  State,  and  hold  it  useful  as  a 
memorandum  to  uncalculating  persons  like  myself, 
who  happen  to  live  in  an  old  one,  I  think  there  is  no 
necessity  for  it  in  commercial  nations  long  estab- 
lished, and  that  it  has  no  business  in  others,  who  do 
not  found  their  happiness  in  that  sort  of  power. 
Franklin,  with  all  his  abilities,  is  but  at  the  head  of 
those  who  think  that  man  lives  '  by  bread  alone.' " 

And  again,  in  his  "  Journal,"  a  few  years  ago,  that 
gentleman,  after  narrating  several  agreeable  hardships 
inflicted  upon  him,  says : — "  A  little  before  this,  a 
friend  in  a  manufacturing  town  was  informed  that  I 
was  a  terrible  speculator  in  the  money  markets  !     I 

*  Thomson's  phrase  in  his  "  Castle  of  Indolence,"  speaking  of 
a  miserly  money-getter  : — 

"  *  A  penny  saved  is  a  penny  got ;' 

Firm  to  this  scoundrel  maxim  keepeth  he. 
Nor  of  its  rigour  will  he  bate  a  jot. 
Till  he  hath  quench'd  his  fire  and  banished  his  pot.** 


214  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1852-53. 

who  was  never  in  a  market  of  any  kind  but  to  buy 
an  apple  or  a  flower,  and  who  could  not  dabble  in 
money  business  if  I  would,  from  sheer  ignorance  of 
their  language  ! " 

Just  at  this  time  other  characters  in  Mr.  Dickens's 
novel  were  selected  by  gossips  as  representing  this 
or  that  distinguished  individual.  Thus  Boythorne 
was  affirmed  to  be  the  energetic  Mr.  Walter  Savage 
Landor.  Miss  Martineau  came  forv/ard  in  her  own 
person  to  take  the  cap  of  Mrs.  Jellaby,  and  to  scold 
Mr.  Dickens  for  his  allusions  to  "  blue-stockingism  " 
and  "Borioboola  Gha."  Whether  there  was  any 
foundation  for  these  parallels  betwixt  living  in- 
dividuals and  the  characters  in  "  Bleak  House,"  it  is 
not  now  likely  the  world  will  ever  know,  but  there 
can  be  no  doubt  about  one  of  the  characters  in  that 
book — the  French  lady's  maid.  Mr.  Dickens  made  no 
secret  about  her  representing  Mrs.  Manning  the 
murderess.  Indeed  he  attended  at  her  examination 
at  the  Police  Court,  and  was  present  both  at  her  trial 
and  her  execution.  Her  broken  English,  her  im- 
patient gestures,  and  her  volubility  are  imitated  in 
the  novel  with  marvellous  exactness. 

The  character  of  Turveydrop,  we  may  mention, 
was  always  believed  to  portray  "  the  first  gentle- 
man in  Europe,"  His  Sacred  Majesty  King  George 
the  Fourth, 


CHAPTER  XX. 


AMERICAN   PUBLISHERS. — THE  FIRST  READING. 


S  many  statements  have  recently  been  made 
in  this  country  and  in  the  United  States 
respecting  Mr.  Dickens's  relations  to  the 
American  publishers  of  his  works,  we  may  say  that 
*' Bleak  House"  was  his  first  novel  issued  there  in  the 
profits  arising  from  the  sale  of  which  he  participated. 
Up  to  the  publication  of  "  Dombey  and  Son  "  he 
had  received  nothing  from  America.  It  was  understood 
that  he  was  rather  more  angry  with  Messrs.  Harper 
and  Brothers — subsequently  his  recognized  publishers 
— than  with  any  other  Transatlantic  house.  They 
had  just  begun  publishing  their  New  MontJily 
Magazine^  and  the  publishers  of  the  International 
Magazine  were  contesting  with  the  Harpers  the 
first  place  in  American  periodical  literature.  After 
a  severe  and  indecisive  struggle  of  a  year,  one  of  the 
conductors  of  the  International  conceived  an  idea 
which,  if  successfully  carried  out,  would  have  given 
the  victory  to  that  Magazine :  one  of  its  publishers 
was  going  abroad,  and  was  authorized  to  secure  from 
Mr.  Dickens  "advanced  sheets"  of  his  next  novel 
for  publication  in  the  International. 


2i6  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1852-53. 

The  steamer  on  which  he  sailed  had  hardly  got  out 
of  sight  before  Dr.  Griswold,  of  the  International ^  had 
given  to  the  Evening  Post  a  sensational  paragraph, 
stating  that  Mr.  Dickens  had  been  engaged  to  write 
for  the  International  Magazine  a  new  novel,  for  which 
he  was  to  be  paid  2,000  dollars — a  sum  considerably 
larger  in  1850  than  in  1867 — and  then  considered 
enormous  for  the  favour  demanded.  The  watchful 
Harpers,  sent  out  in  the  next  steamer  a  messenger 
who  went  directly  to  Mr.  Dickens,  and  found  him 
ready  for  any  reasonable  offer.  The  Post  with  Dr. 
Griswold's  paragraph  being  shown  him,  he  at  once 
decided  to  hold  the  Yankees  to  the  terms  therein 
set  forth,  and  agreed  for  the  2,000  dollars  to  furnish 
Harper  and  Brothers  Avith  *'  advance  sheets  "  of  the 
next  novel,  which  was  the  present  one  of  "  Bleak 
House."  The  messenger  of  the  International  had 
made  the  very  great  blunder  of  going  to  Mr.  Dickens's 
publisher  instead  of  to  Mr.  Dickens  himself.  The 
publisher  had  told  him  that  Mr.  Dickens  was  busy 
about  private  theatricals,  which  would  probably 
absorb  his  attention  for  an  indefinite  period,  and  that 
no  new  novel  was  in  contemplation.  In  fact,  it  is  not 
improbable  that,  on  account  of  the  bargain  with  the 
Harpers,  "  Bleak  House  "  was  written,  or  at  least 
published,  before  it  otherwise  would  have  been.  It  is 
said  that  Mr.  Dickens  has  received  upwards  of 
100,000  dollars  on  the  sale  of  his  works  in  America. 

Early  in  the  new  year  Mr.  Dickens  paid  a  visit  to 
the  Midland  counties.     Birmingham  has  always  been 


i8s3.J  AMERICAN  PUBLISHERS.  217 

very  partial  to  our  great  novelist,  and  he  in  turn  has 
been  equally  partial  to  Birmingham.  One  of  his 
earliest  speeches  was  delivered  here,  and  for  services 
rendered  to  the  town  a  public  presentation  of  a 
diamond  ring  and  a  silver  salver  was  made  to  him, 
in  the  rooms  of  the  Society  of  Artists  there,  on 
January  6,  1853.  A  banquet  was  subsequently  given 
to  him,  and  Mr.  Dickens  made  three  speeches  on  the 
occasion. 

In  May  of  this  year  Dickens  was  the  guest  of  the 
Lord  Mayor.  His  lordship  had  invited  a  number  of 
literary  celebrities  to  dine  with  him,  including  Mrs. 
Beecher  Stowe  and  her  husband,  and  Dickens  was 
called  upon  to  respond  to  Mr.  Justice  Talfourd's 
toast,  "Anglo-Saxon  Literature." 

Mrs.  Stowe,  in  her  "  Sunny  Memories  of  Foreign 
Lands,"  alludes  to  the  occasion,  and  to  the  author  of 
"  Bleak  House,"  remarking  : — "  Directly  opposite  me 
was  Mr.  Dickens,  whom  I  now  beheld  for  the  first 
time,  and  was  surprised  to  see  looking  so  young. 
Mr.  Justice  Talfourd  made  allusion  to  the  author  of 
*  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin '  and  Mr.  Dickens,  speaking  of 
both  as  having  employed  fiction  as  a  means  of 
awakening  the  attention  of  the  respective  countries  to 
the  condition  of  the  oppressed  and  suffering  classes. 
We  rose  from  table  between  eleven  and  twelve 
o'clock — that  is,  we  ladies — and  went  into  the  draw- 
ing-room, where  I  was  presented  to  Mrs.  Dickens  and 
several  other  ladies.  Mrs.  Dickens  is  a  good  specimen 
of  a  truly  English  woman  ;    tall,   large,    and   well- 


2i8  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1853. 

developed,  with  fine,  healthy  colour,  and  an  air  of 
frankness,  cheerfulness,  and  reliability.  A  friend 
whispered  to  me  that  she  was  as  observing  and  fond 
of  humour  as  hen  husband.  After  a  while,  the  gentle- 
men came  back  to  the  drawing-room,  and  I  had  a 
few  moments  of  very  pleasant  friendly  conversation 
with  Mr.  Dickens.  They  are  both  people  that  one 
could  not  know  a  little  of  without  desiring  to  know 
more." 

In  her  Adieus  she  said — ''  I  have  omitted,  however, 
that  I  went  with  Lady  Hatherton  to  call  on  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Dickens,  and  was  sorry  to  find  him  too  unwell 
to  be  able  to  see  me.  Mrs.  Dickens,  who  was  busy 
in  attending  him,  also  excused  herself,  and  we  saw 
her  sister." 

We  now  come  to  an  important  event  in  Mr. 
Dickens's  career — his  first  public  "  reading."  Various 
towns  claim  the  honour  of  being  the  first  to  invite 
the  great  novelist  to  read  to  its  inhabitants  ;  but 
we  believe  Peterborough  was  the  real  scene  of  his 
first  appearance  in  the  capacity  of  a  public  reader. 
Reading  aloud,  however,  to  the  circle  of  his  household, 
and  at  those  Hampstead  dinners,  had  often  been  a 
source  of  gratification  to  his  friends.  The  first  allusion 
to  reading  his  works  in  public  was  made  at  Birming- 
ham, 6th  January,  1853,  when  he  returned  thanks 
for  a  present  that  had  been  made  to  him.  He  then 
promised  to  come  next  December  to  give  two 
or  three  readings,  from  his  own  books,  on  behalf 
of    the    Midland    Institute ;     suggesting    that    the 


i853-]  THE  FIRST  READING.  219 

novelty  of  such  a  proceeding  might  produce  some- 
thing towards  the  funds  of  that  admirable  institu- 
tion. A  daily  journal*  with  which  Mr.  Dickens  was 
formerly  connected  has,  however,  recently  asserted 
that  it  was  at  Chatham  that  our  author  made  his 
first  public  appearance  ;  but  we  believe  that  in  the 
quiet  little  city  of  Peterborough,  some  few  months 
before  the  time  for  the  Birmingham  reading  had 
arrived,  Mr.  Dickens  essayed  his  first  public  reading, 
he  himself  going  down  a  day  or  two  before  to 
superintend  the  stage,  and  those  *'  effects "  which, 
however  small,  he  never  neglected. 

Whether  Birmingham,  Peterborough,  or  Chatham- 
can  claim  the  honour,  there  can  be  no  question  about 
the  result  of  Mr.  Dickens's  efforts  in  this  new  line. 
It  was  an  undoubted  success,  and  was  soon  repeated 
for  other  charitable  institutions  in  various  parts  of 
England.  At  Birmingham  over  ^300  were  collected. 
Mr.  Dickens  used  to  tell  some  amusing  stories 
of  his  "  reading  "  experiences  in  the  provinces.  At 
one  town  in  the  north,  a  door-keeper's  opinion  was 
invited  by  a  gentleman  who  was  entering  the  room 
to  hear  the  second  "  reading  "  of  the  course. 

"  Very  fair,  sir,"  was  the  reply  ;  "  very  fair ;  he  does 
not  read  amiss  ;  but  his  attitudes  are  poor,  sir.  I 
think  nothing  of  his  attitudes." 

It  is  tolerably  Avell  known  that  our  author  never 
experienced    those    bashful    sensations    which    most 

*  The  Daily  NezvSy  nth  June,  1870. 


220  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  I.1853. 

persons  experience  when  they  come  before  the  pubhc 
for  the  first  time.  The  reader's  own  recollections  of 
rising  to  respond  to  toasts,  even  in  a  private  circle,  will 
suggest  the  feeling  which  Mr.  Dickens  never  knew. 
Mr.  George  Hodder  says : — "  I  once  asked  Mr. 
Dickens  if  he  ever  felt  nervous  in  public. 

"  '■  Not  in  the  least,'  was  the  answer.  *  The  first 
time  I  took  the  chair,  I  felt  as  much  confidence 
as  if  I  had  done  the  thing  a  hundred  times.' 

*'  At  a  dinner  to  his  eldest  son,  who  was  going  out 
to  China,  the  young  man  became  warmed  with  the 
wine  ;  and  Dickens,  in  returning  thanks  when  his  own 
health  was  drunk,  said  that  after  so  good  a  dinner  *  a 
little  transaction  in  tea  would  do  his  son  a  world  of 
good.'" 

It  was  always  this  happy  readiness  at  response, 
this  being  able  to  reply  on  the  moment,  that  made 
him,  as  he  certainly  was,  the  best  after-dinner  speaker 
in  England.  There  is  an  exquisite  delicacy  in  his 
treatment  of  an  ordinary  subject,  and  in  the  selection 
of  words,  which,  if  possessed  by  any  other  speaker  in 
this  country — Mr.  Bright,  perhaps,  excepted — is 
certainly  not  shown  in  any  recent  efforts  of  their 
oratory.  As  has  been  remarked,  some  of  his  speeches 
are  equal  to  the  finest  pages  of  his  printed  works. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

"HARD  TIMES." — "SEVEN  POOR  TRAVELLERS." — 
*' HOLLY  TREE  INN." 

[N  August,  1854,  Mr.  Dickens  published  his 
"  Hard  Times,"  which  had  previously  ap- 
peared in  the  weekly  pages  of  Household 
Words.  It  Avas  ^^  Inscribed  to  TJiomas  Carlyle!'  for 
whom  Mr.  Dickens  ever  felt  the  warmest  admi- 
ration. This  work  is  treated  differently  to  any 
of  his  other  books,  and  hardly  sustains  his  repu- 
tation, being  the  least  read  and  admired  of  his  nu- 
merous fictions.  The  plot  is  meagre  and  aimless. 
The  personages  are  too  often  exaggerated  and  over- 
drawn ;  the  design,  apparently,  being  to  place  facts, 
figures,  science,  and  political  economy  in  anything 
but  a  favourable  or  correct  light.  The  education 
received  by  the  Gradgrinds  is  preposterous.  Mr. 
Charles  Knight,  in  his  "  Passages  of  a  Working 
Life,"  said : ''  Before  I  published,  in  1854,  my  volume  of 
*  Knowledge  is  Power,'  I  sent  a  copy  to  my  eminent 
friend  (Mr.  Charles  Dickens),  with  somewhat  of 
apprehension,  for  he  was  then  publishing  his  *  Hard 
Times.'  I  said  that  I  was  afraid  that  he  would  set 
me  down  as  a  cold-hearted  political  economist.  His 
reply,  of  the  30th  of  January,  1854,  was  very  charac- 


22a  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1854. 

terlstic ;  and  I  venture  to  extract  it,  as  it  may  not 
only  correct  some  erroneous  notions  as  to  his  opinions 
on  such  subjects,  but  proclaim  a  great  truth,  which 
has  perhaps  not  been  sufficiently  attended  to  by  some 
of  the  dreary  and  dogmatic  professors  of  what  has 
been  called  the  dismal  science : — '  My  satire  is  against 
those  who  see  figures  and  averages,  and  nothing  else — 
the  representatives  of  the  wickedest  and  most 
enormous  vice  of  this  time — the  men  who,  through 
long  years  to  come,  will  do  more  to  damage  the 
really  useful  truths  of  political  economy  than  I 
could  do  (if  I  tried)  in  my  whole  life — the  addled 
heads  who  would  take  the  average  of  cold  in  the 
Crimea  during  twelve  months  as  a  reason  for  cloth- 
ing a  soldier  in  nankeen  on  a  night  when  he  would 
be  frozen  to  death  in  fur — and  who  would  comfort 
the  labourer,  in  travelling  twelve  miles  a  day  to 
and  from  his  work,  by  telling  him  that  the  average 
distance  of  one  inhabited  place  from  another  on  the 
whole  area  of  England  is  not  more  than  four  miles. 
Bah  !  what  have  you  to  do  with  these  ?'  " 

An  amusing  parody  or  skit  on  the  tale  by  the  late 
Robert  Brough  appeared  in  "Our  Miscellany,"  a  work 
the  joint  production  of  that  lamented  writer  and 
Mr.  Edmund  Yates.  At  the  Strand  Theatre,  in  the 
August  following,  a  version  was  placed  on  the  stage, 
and  was  well  received,  all  the  melancholy  parts  being 
cut  out,  and  all  the  humour  heightened  as  much  as 
possible  ;  the  denotLemcnt  being  somewhat  different  to 
Mr.  Dickens's  !     The  new  Bill  for  closing  the  public- 


I8S4-5S-]  ''HARD   TIMES."  223 

houses  creating  great  excitement  and  discussion  at 
the  time,  Mr.  Gradgrind  was  made  to  exhibit  strong 
animosity  and  hostility  to  the  proposed  measure.  It 
may  be  mentioned  that  an  adaptation  was  performed 
at  Astley's  Theatre,  with  the  title  of  "  Under  the 
Earth ;  or,  the  Sons  of  Toil,"  as  recently  as  April  and 
May,  1867. 

It  was  in  this  year,  on  the  13th  of  March,  that 
Dickens  lost  his  dear  friend  Sir  Thomas  Noon  Tal- 
fourd — better  known  as  Serjeant  Talfourd,  the  friend 
of  Charles  Lamb,  and  of  many  other  eminent  men 
of  letters  in  his  day.  That  Dickens  keenly  felt  the 
loss,  we  know  from  various  passages  in  the  life  of  his 
deceased  friend.  How  beautiful  is  this  description  of 
the  dead  man's  virtues, — how  delicately  are  his 
graces  dwelt  upon  : — 

"  The  chief  delight  of  his  life  was  to  give  delight 
to  others.  His  nature  was  so  exquisitely  kind,  that  to 
be  kind  was  its  highest  happiness.  Those  who  had 
the  privilege  of  seeing  him  in  his  own  home,  when 
his  public  successes  were  greatest — so  modest,  so 
contented  with  little  things,  so  interested  in  humble 
persons  and  humble  efforts,  so  surrounded  by  children 
and  young  people,  so  adored  in  remembrance  of  a 
domestic  generosity  and  greatness  of  heart  too  sacred 
to  be  unveiled  here,  can  never  forget  the  pleasure  of 
that  sight." 

"The  Seven  Poor  Travellers  "  formed  the  title  of  the 
Christmas  number  for  1854.  It  was  one  of  the  most 
popular  of  the  series  of  Christmas  stories.     The  idea 


234  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1855 

was  that  Dickens  had  stayed  one  Christmas  Eve  at 
the  Poor  Travellers'  House  at  Rochester  (founded  by 
good   old    Richard   Watts*),   in   company   with   six 

*  The  house  appointed  for  the  reception  of  the  poor  tra- 
vellers, is  situated  on  the  north  side  of  the  High  Street,  adjoin- 
ing to  the  custom-house,  and  is  probably  the  original  building. 
A  very  considerable  sum  was  expended  by  the  mayor  and 
citizens  on  its  repair  in  1771.  Agreeably  to  the  benevolent 
design  of  the  donor,  poor  travellers  have  lodging  and  four-pence 
each ;  and  that  this  charity  may  be  more  generally  known,  the 
following  inscription  is  fixed  over  the  door : — 

«  RICHARD  WATTS,  ESQ., 

BY    HIS    WILL    DATED    2  2    AuG.,    1 5/9, 

FOUNDED    THIS    CHARITY, 

FOR    SIX    POOR    TRAVELLERS, 

WHO    NOT   BEING    RoGUES,   OR    ProCTORS, 

may  receive  gratis,  for  one  night, 

Lodging,  Entertainment, 

and  four-pence  each. 

In  testimony  of  his  Munificence, 

in  honour  of  his  Memory, 

AND    inducement    TO    HIS    ExAMPLE, 

NATH^-  HOOD,  Esq.,  the  present  Mayor, 

HAS    CAUSED    THIS    STONE, 

GRATEFULLY   TO    BE    RENEWED 

AND    INSCRIBED, 

A.  D.  1771." 

The  History  of  Rochester,  1772. 

By  direction  of  the  Court  of  Chancery,  the  large  income 
derived  from  the  property  bequeathed  for  the  support  of  tht 
house  (being  now  ^3,500  per  annum),  was,  in  pursuance  of  a 
scheme  settled  in   1855,  applied  in  building  of  almshouses  for 


1 855-]  THE    THACKERAY  DINNER.  225 

poor  travellers,  and  entertained  them  with  roast  beef, 
turkey,  and  punch  from  the  neighbouring  inn,  when 
each  in  turn  told  a  story.  His  own,  the  history  of 
Richard  Doubledick,  is  one  of  the  most  impressive 
and  beautiful  stories  ever  written. 

On  January  15th  following,  he  presided,  at  the 
London  Tavern,  at  the  Annual  Dinner  of  the  Com- 
mercial Travellers'  School  at  Wanstead.  This  was 
the  occasion  when  he  made  a  most  amusing  and 
sprightly  speech  upon  "  Commercials."  On  27th 
June,  in  the  same  year,  he  delivered  a  telling  speech 
upon  "  Reform  "  at  Drury  Lane  Theatre. 

It  was  during  this  year,  in  July,  that  the  much- 
talked-of  private  theatricals  at  Campden  House 
were  set  on  foot  by  Dickens,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Brompton  Consumption  Hospital.  The  piece  per- 
formed was  the  "  Lighthouse,"  a  thrilling  melo- 
drama, written  by  Mr.  Wilkie  Collins.  Dickens  took 
the  part  of  Aaron  Gurnock,  the  old  lighthouse- 
keeper,  to  perfection ;  Miss  Dickens  representing 
Phoebe ;  Mr.  Egg,  a  rough  sailor ;  and  Mr.  Mark 
Lemon,  Jacob  Bell. 

In  October,  1855 — prior  to  his  departure  to 
America — a  dinner  was  given  to  Mr.  Thackeray  at 
the  London  Tavern,  of  which  one  who  was  present 
gave  the  following  account : — **  The  Thackeray  dinner 
was  a  triumph.     Covers,  we  are  assured,  v/ere  laid  for 

ten  men  and  ten  women.  The  result  has  been  the  erection  of 
a  splendid  edifice,  in  the  Elizabethan  style,  with  two  magnificent 
gateways. 

P 


226  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1855. 

sixty ;  and  sixty  and  no  more  sat  down  precisely  at 
the  minute  named  to  do  honour  to  the  great  novehst. 
Sixty  very  hearty  shakes  of  the  hand  did  Thackeray 
receive  from  sixty  friends  on  that  occasion ;  and 
hearty  cheers  from  sixty  vociferous  and  friendly 
tongues  followed  the  chairman's  (Mr.  Charles 
Dickens's)  proposal  of  his  health,  and  of  wishes  for 
his  speedy  and  successful  return  among  us.  Dickens 
was  never  happier.  He  spoke  as  if  he  was  fully 
conscious  that  it  was  a  great  occasion,  and  that  the 
absence  of  even  one  reporter  was  a  matter  of  con- 
gratulation, affording  ampler  room  to  unbend.  The 
table  was  in  the  shape  of  a  horse-shoe,  having  two 
vice-chairmen  :  and  this  circumstance  was  wrought 
up  and  played  with  by  Dickens  in  the  true  Sam 
Weller  and  Charles  Dickens  manner.  Thackeray, 
who  is  far  from  what  is  called  a  good  speaker,  outdid 
himself.  There  was  his  usual  hesitation  ;  but  this 
hesitation  becomes  his  manner  of  speaking  and  his 
matter,  and  is  never  unpleasant  to  his  hearers,  though 
it  is,  we  are  assured,  most  irksome  to  himself  This 
speech  was  full  of  pathos,  and  humour,  and  oddity, 
with  bits  of  prepared  parts  imperfectly  recollected, 
but  most  happily  made  good  by  the  felicities  of  the 
passing  moment.     Like  the  '  Last  Minstrel/ — 

'  Each  blank  in  faithless  memory  void. 
The  poet's  glowing  thought  supplied.' 

It  was  a  speech  to  remember  for  its  earnestness  of 
purpose   and   its   undoubted   originality.     Then   the 


i85S-]  JOHNSON'S  GOD-DAUGHTER.  227 

chairman  quitted,  and  many  near  and  at  a  distance 
quitted  with  him.  Thackeray  was  on  the  move  with 
the  chairman,  when,  inspired  by  the  moment,  Jerrold 
took  the  chair,  and  Thackeray  remained.  Who  is  to 
chronicle  what  now  passed  ? — what  passages  of  wit — 
what  neat  and  pleasant  sarcastic  speeches  in  pro- 
posing healths — what  varied  and  pleasant,  aye,  and 
at  times,  sarcastic  acknowledgments .''  Up  to  the 
time  when  Dickens  left,  a  good  reporter  might  have 
given  all,  and  with  ease,  to  future  ages ;  but  there 
could  be  no  reporting  what  followed.  There  were 
words  too  nimble  and  too  full  of  flame  for  a  dozen 
Gurneys,  all  ears,  to  catch  and  preserve.  Few  will 
forget  that  night.  There  was  an  '  air  of  wit '  about 
the  room  for  three  days  after.  Enough  to  make  the 
two  next  companies,  though  downright  fools,  right 
witty." 

The  ensuing  month  an  appeal  was  made  on 
behalf  of  Johnson's  god-daughter,  signed  by  nineteen 
eminent  literary  men,  including  Dickens,  Hallam, 
Disraeli,  Carlyle,  Thackeray,  Milman,  and  Macaulay. 
A  large  sum  of  money  was  raised,  but  the  recipient 
did  not  live  many  years  to  enjoy  the  annuity 
secured  for  her,  and  this  quaint  advertisement 
appeared  in  the  Times  of  the  i8th  of  January, 
i860:— 

"On  the  15th  inst.,  at  No.  5,  Minerva  Place,  Hatcham, 
S.E.,  Ann  Elizabeth,  eldest  daughter  of  the  late  Mauritius 
Lowe,  Esq.,  of  the  Royal  Academy,  Gold  Medallist,  and  god- 
daughter of  the  late  Samuel  Johnson,  LL.D.,  aged  82." 

P   2 


228  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1855. 

**  The  late  Samuel  Johiiso7i,  LL.D.,"  sounds  strange 
in  these  days ! 

Another  appeal  to  aid  in  a  philanthropic  cause 
was  made  to  our  author  in  the  Christmas  week,  and 
again  he  expressed  his  readiness  to  assist. 

He  read  his  "  Christmas  Carol "  to  an  immense 
audience  at  the  Mechanics'  Institute,  Sheffield,  in  aid 
of  its  funds,  and  we  are  told  in  the  papers  of  the 
time  that  at  the  termination  the  Mayor  presented 
him  with  a  very  handsome  table  service  of  cutlery, 
including,  we  are  further  told,  with  a  circumstantiality 
which  is  amusing — "a  pair  of  lish-carvers,  and  a 
couple  of  razors,"  in  the  name  of  the  inhabitants,  for 
his  generous  help  and  assistance.  In  thanking  him, 
Dickens  said  that  in  an  earnest  desire  to  leave 
imaginative  and  popular  literature  something  more 
closely  associated  than  he  found  it  at  once  with  the 
private  homes  and  the  public  rights  of  the  English 
people,  "he  should  be  faithful  to  death."* 

This  Christmas  the  celebrated  number,  entitled 
*'  The  Holly  Tree  Inn,"  came  out.  The  best  story 
in  it — of  course  by  Dickens — was  "  The  Boots,"  a 
charming  sketch,  the  writing  delightfully  fresh  and 
vivid.     It  recorded  the  droll  adventures  of  a  young 

*  Dickens,  in  a  letter  to  Charles  Knight,  in  1844,  alluding 
to  the  appearance  of  "Knight's  Weekly  Volumes,"  wrote  him: — 

"  If  I  can  ever  be  of  the  feeblest  use  in  advancing  a  pro- 
ject so  intimately  connected  with  an  end  on  which  my  heart  is 
set — the  liberal  education  of  the  people — I  shall  be  sincerely 
glad.     All  good  wishes  and  success  attend  you." 


1855-5^-]  ''HOLLY  TREE  INN.'  329 

gentleman  of  the  tender  age  of  eight,  running  off 
with  his  sweetheart,  aged  seven,  to  Gretna  Green. 

Mr.  Johnstone  dramatized  it  for  the  Strand 
Theatre,  and,  we  may  mention,  it  was  the  means  of 
introducing  the  now  celebrated  Miss  Herbert  to  the 
London  boards.  A  much  better  version  was  pro- 
duced at  the  Adelphi,  Mr.  Benjamin  Webster  play- 
ing, with  all  those  peculiar  and  delicate  touches  of 
nature  he  is  capable  of,  the  role  of  Cobbs,  "  the 
Boots." 


•^^€^e^Si£g^9^^ 


CHAPTER   XXII. 


LITTLE     DORRIT.  — TAVISTOCK     HOUSE 
THEATRICALS. 

HE  leading  events  in  our  author's  career  from 
the  time  we  now  begin  to  approach  will  be 
^^  fresh  in  the  memories  of  most  readers.  In 
the  Christmas  week  of  this  year  the  first  number  of 
"  Little  Dorrit "  appeared,  and  on  its  completion, 
twenty  months  later,  was  issued  by  Messrs.  Bradbury 
and  Evans,  with  illustrations  by  "  Phiz,"  and  dedicated 
to  Clarkson  Stanfield,  R.A.,  the  eminent  landscape 
painter.  This  work  was  written  with  the  express 
intention  of  showing  the  procrastination  and  formal 
routine  of  the  Government  administration  of  busi- 
ness, happily  designated  as  "  The  Circumlocution 
Office,"  and  the  Tite  Barnacle's  family,  who  impede 
the  machinery  by  their  inefficiency  and  supercilious 
know-nothing  propensities. 

Soon  after  it  was  published,  Lord  Lytton  unwit- 
tingly furnished  a  specimen  of  the  mode  in  which  the 
despatch  of  public  business  is  conducted.  Receiving 
an  important  deputation  at  the  Colonial  Office  (when 
he  was  Minister),  it  appeared  that,  though  a  memorial 
had  been  sent  in,  and  due  notice  given,  he  had  heard 


i355-S5.]  ''LITTLE  DORR  IT,"  231 

nothing  of  the  matter  till  five  minutes  before,  if 
indeed  he  had  heard  of  it  at  all ;  in  explanation  of 
which  he  somewhat  naively  remarked  that  in  such 
offices  "  papers  of  importance  passed  through  several 
departments,  and  required  time  for  inspection — first 
they  were  sent  to  the  Emigration  Board,  then  to 
another  office,  and  then  to  the  Secretary  of  State, 
v/ho  might  refer  it  to  some  other  department."  One 
cannot  fail  to  observe  the  extreme  vagueness  of  the 
final  resting-place  of  the  unfortunate  document. 
"  Some  other  department."  What  other  department } 
This  is  what  Mr.  Clennam  and  his  mechanical  partner 
were  always  "wanting  to  know." 

The  work  met  with  an  immense  sale  in  the  serial 
form,  but  it  is  not  now  so  popular  as  some  of  the 
other  works  of  Mr.  Dickens.  The  story  was  drama- 
tized, and  well  represented  at  the  Strand  Theatre. 

We  come  now  to  note  Dickens's  change  of  resi- 
dence from  Tavistock  House,  Tavistock  Square,  to 
Gad's  Hill  Place,  Kent,  or,  as  the  great  man  himself 
always  wrote  it,  with  that  amplitude  and  unmlstake- 
able  clearness  which  made  him  write,  not  only  the  day 
of  the  month,  but  the  day  of  the  week,  in  full  at  the 
head  of  his  letters — Gad's  Hill  Place,  HigJiam  by 
Rochester,  Kent.  How  he  came  to  live  here  is  plea- 
santly told  by  a  friend.* 

"Though  not  born  at  Rochester,  Mr.  Dickens 
spent  some  portion  of  his  boyhood  there ;  and  was 
wont  to   tell    how  his   father,   the    late    Mr.   John 

*  Dailj  News,  15  June,  1870. 


232  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1855-56. 

Dickens,  in  the  course  of  a  country  ramble,  pointed 
out  to  him  as  a  child  the  house  at  Gad's  Hill  Place, 
saying,  '  There,  my  boy ;  if  you  work  and  mind  your 
book,  you  will,  perhaps,  one  day  live  in  a  house  like 
that.'  This  speech  sunk  deep,  and  in  after  years,  and 
in  the  course  of  his  many  long  pedestrian  rambles 
through  the  lanes  and  roads  of  the  pleasant  Kentish 
country,  Mr.  Dickens  came  to  regard  this  Gad's  Hill 
House  lovingly,  and  to  wish  himself  its  possessor. 
This  seemed  an  impossibility.  The  property  was  so 
held  that  there  was  no  likelihood  of  its  ever  coming 
into  the  market ;  and  so  Gad's  Hill  came  to  be 
alluded  to  jocularly,  as  representing  a  fancy  which 
was  pleasant  enough  in  dreamland,  but  would  never 
be  realized. 

"  Meanwhile  the  years  rolled  on,  and  Gad's  Hill 
became  almost  forgotten.  Then  a  further  lapse  of 
time,  and  Mr.  Dickens  felt  a  strong  wish  to  settle  in 
the  country,  and  determined  to  let  Tavistock  House. 
About  this  time,  and  by  the  strangest  coincidences, 
his  intimate  friend  and  close  ally,  Mr.  W.  H.  Wills, 
chanced  to  sit  next  to  a  lady  at  a  London  dinner- 
party, who  remarked,  in  the  course  of  conversation, 
that  a  house  and  grounds  had  come  into  her  posses- 
sion of  which  she  wanted  to  dispose.  The  reader 
will  guess  the  rest.  The  house  was  in  Kent,  was  not 
far  from  Rochester,  had  this  and  that  distinguishing 
feature  which  made  it  like  Gad's  Hill  and  like  no 
other  place  ;  and  the  upshot  of  Mr.  Wills's  dinner- 
table  chit-chat  with  a  lady  whom  he  had  never  met 


1856.]  ''TRAVELLING  abroad:'  233 

before  was,  that  Charles  Dickens  realized  the  dream 
of  his  youth,  and  became  the  possessor  of  Gad's 
Hill."  The  purchase  was  made  in  the  Spring  of 
1856. 

In  the  "  Uncommercial  Traveller,"  under  the  head 
of  "Travelling  Abroad,"  No.  VII.,  Dickens  makes 
this  mention  of  it : — 

So  smooth  was  the  old  high-road,  and  so  fresh  were  the 
horses,  and  so  fast  went  I,  that  it  was  midway  between 
Gravesend  and  Rochester,  and  the  widening  river  was  bearing 
the  shilps,  white-sailed,  or  black-smoked,  out  to  sea,  when  I 
noticed  by  the  wayside  a  very  queer  small  boy. 

**  Halloa  !  "  said  I  to  the  very  queer  small  boy,  "  where  do 
you  live  ? " 

"  At  Chatham,"  says  he. 

"  What  do  you  do  there  ?  "  says  I. 

"  I  go  to  school,"  says  he. 

I  took  him  up  in  a  moment,  and  we  went  on. 

Presently,  the  very  queer  small  boy  says,  **  This  is  Gad's  Hill 
we  are  coming  to,  where  FalstafF  went  out  to  rob  those 
travellers,  and  ran  away." 

"  You  know  something  about  Falstaff,  eh  ?  "  said  I. 

"All  about  him,"  said  the  very  queer  small  boy. 

**  I  am  old  (I  am  nine)  and  I  read  all  sorts  of  books.  But  do 
let  us  stop  at  the  top  of  the  hill  and  look  at  the  house  there,  if 
you  please !  " 

"  You  admire  that  house  ? "  said  I. 

"  Bless  you,  sir !  "  said  the  very  queer  small  boy,  "  when  I 
was  not  more  than  half  as  old  as  nine,  it  used  to  be  a  treat  for 
me  to  be  brought  to  look  at  it.  And  now  I  am  nine,  I  come 
by  myself  to  look  at  it.  And  ever  since  I  can  recollect,  my 
father,  seeing  me   so  fond  of  it,  has  often  said  to  me,  *]f  you 


234  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1856. 

were  to  be  very  persevering  and  were  to  work  hard,  you  might 
some  day  come  to  live  in  it/  Though  that 's  impossible  !  "  said 
the  very  queer  small  boy,  drawing  a  low  breath,  and  now  star- 
ing at  the  house  out  of  window  with  all  his  might. 

I  was  rather  amazed  to  be  told  this  by  the  very  queer  small 
boy,  for  that  house  happens  to  be  my  house,  and  I  have  reason 
to  believe  that  what  he  said  was  true. 

Of  "  Gad's  Hill's  haunted  greenness,"  a  modern 
poet  well  says  : — 

"  There  is  a  subtle  spirit  in  its  air ; 
The  very  soul  of  humour  homes  it  there  5 
So  is  it  now :  of  old  so  has  it  been ; 
Shakspeare  from  off  it  caught  the  rarest  scene 

That  ever  shook  with  laughs  the  sides  of  Care ; 
Falstaff's  fine  instinct  for  a  Prince  grew  where 
That  hill — what  years  since  ! — show'd  its  Kentish  green. 
Fit  home  for  England's  world-loved  Dickens." 

Before  Dickens  left  Tavistock  House,  where  he 
had  resided  for  many  years,  and  v/here  "  Bleak 
House "  and  "  Little  Dorrit "  were  written,  he  gave 
some  dramatic  performances  which  elicited  the 
warmest  praise  from  those  who  had  the  good 
fortune  to  be  present.  A  large  room  had  been  fitted 
up  with  stage,  scenery,  and  footlights,  and  his  friend 
Wilkie  Collins  had  written  an  entirely  new  drama  of 
the  most  romantic  character  for  the  occasion.  The 
title  was  "  The  Frozen  Deep,"  and  the  rigours  of  the 
Arctic  regions  were  scenically  portrayed  by  Clarkson 
Stanfield,  RA.,  and  Mr.  Danson.  The  following  rough 
outline  will  give  some  idea  of  the  piece  as  then  per- 
formed.    First,  there  was  a  beautiful  scene  in  Kent, 


i8s6.]  TAVISTOCK  HOUSE   THEATRICALS.  23s 

painted  by  Mr.  Telbin,  in  which  the  members  of  the 
family  of  Captain  Ebsworth  and  Lieutenants  Crayford 
and  Steventon,  who  are  on  board  certain  vessels  en- 
gaged in  an  expedition  at  the  North  Pole,  are  assem- 
bled, and  disclose  the  sufferings  and  the  suspense  by 
which  they  are  agonized  during  the  absence  of  their 
relatives.  These  consist  of  five  young  ladies — Mrs. 
Steventon  (Miss  Helen),  Rose  Ebsworth  (Miss 
Kate),  Lucy  Orayford  (Miss  Hogarth),  Clara  Burn- 
ham  (Miss  Mary),  and  the  Nurse  Esther  (Mrs  Wills), 
with  their  Maid  (Miss  Martha).  Clara  Burnham  has 
two  lovers — one  Richard  Wardour,  performed  by  Mr. 
Charles  Dickens  himself,  and  the  other  Frank  Alders- 
ley  (Mr.  Wilkie  Collins),  to  whom  she  is  engaged.  The 
former  has  vowed  a  terrible  vengeance  against  his 
rival.  And  now  that  they  are  both  on  the  Polar  Seas 
together,  Clara's  fears  are  awakened,  and  haunt  her 
imagination  continually.  To  deepen  the  impression 
still  more.  Nurse  Esther  pretends  to  second-sight, 
and  predicts  the  most  fatal  catastrophe. 

Doubts  are  entertained  of  the  character  of  Wardour 
from  his  strange  conduct.  This  arises  from  "  the 
pangs  of  despised  love,"  with  which  his  heart  still 
wrestles.  As  yet  he  knows  not  who  his  rival  may  be, 
and  does  not  suspect  that  he  dwells  in  the  same  hut 
with  him.  Lieutenant  Crayford,  a  bluff,  hearty  sailor 
(Mark  Lemon),  takes  a  strong  interest  in  him,  and 
believes  in  his  inherent  goodness.  But  at  length  his 
faith  gives  way  ;  for,  in  a  well-managed  conversation, 
he  penetrates  the  state  of  Wardour's  soul,  and  forms 


236  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1856. 

of  his  tendencies  the  most  awful  judgment.  Soon 
after  Wardour  makes  the  discovery  that  Aldersley  is 
his  rival,  and  his  resolution  is  formed  to  accomplish 
the  vengeance  on  which  he  had  so  long  brooded.  We 
next  find  all  the  party,  with  the  young  ladies,  on  the 
shore  of  Newfoundland.  But  Wardour  and  Aldersley 
are  for  awhile  missing,  and  Crayford  is  haunted  with 
a  horrible  suspicion  that  the  latter  has  been  made  the 
victim  of  the  former.  Wardour  in  rags,  wild  as  a 
maniac,  rushes  into  the  cave.  He  claims  food  and 
drink,  part  of  which  he  takes,  and  carefully  preserves 
the  rest  in  a  wallet.  Crayford  at  last  recognizes  him 
— endeavours  to  seize  him — but  the  madman  dashes 
away,  soon  to  return  with  poor  exhausted  Aldersley 
in  his  arms.  He  had  become  the  preserver  of  the 
man  whom  he  had  seduced  to  the  most  desolate 
spots  on  the  Arctic  snows  for  the  purpose  of  destroy- 
ing. He  makes  full  reparation  for  his  intended 
crime  ;  and,  ere  his  death,  blesses  the  union  of  Clara 
Burnham  and  Frank  Aldersley.  Dickens's  persona- 
tion of  Wardour  required  the  best  acting  of  a  well- 
practised  performer.  His  acting  surprised  all  who 
witnessed  it.  The  character  was  a  fervid,  powerful, 
and  distinct  individuality ;  not  unlike,  in  some 
respects,  Mr.  B.  Webster's  tragic  impersonations. 
Mrs.  Inchbald's  farce  of  "  Animal  Magnetism "  con- 
cluded the  evening's  amusements,  Mr.  Dickens  acting 
the  Doctor,  and  Mr.  Mark  Lemon  Pedrillo. 

On   the   Wednesday  following,  Buckstone's   well- 
known    farce    of    "  Uncle    John  "    was   performed, 


\ 


i8s7-]  TAVISTOCK  HOUSE   THEATRICALS.  237 

Mr.  Dickens  acting  the  vigorous  old  gentleman  of 
seventy  to  perfection.  Representations  subsequently 
took  place  at  the  Gallery  of  Illustration,  and  at  the 
Free  Trade  Hall,  Manchester,  for  charitable  purposes. 
On  the  27th  October,  1864,  it  was  publicly  produced 
at  the  Olympic  Theatre,  and  met  with  a  very 
enthusiastic  reception. 

The  death  of  Douglas  Jerrold,  in  June,  1857,  was 
keenly  felt  by  Dickens.  The  two  friends  had  been  on 
the  most  intimate  terms  for  many  years,  as  the  few 
extracts  we  have  already  given  from  pleasant  letters 
will  show.  The  funeral  was  at  Norwood  Cemetery. 
The  coffin  was  of  plain  oak,  and  on  each  side  were 
the  initials,  "  D.  J."  The  pall-bearers  were  Charles 
Dickens,  W.  M.  Thackeray,  Charles  Knight,  Horace 
Mayhew,  Mark  Lemon,  Monckton  Milnes  (Lord 
Houghton),  and  Mr.  Bradbury.  A  great  gathering 
of  artists  and  literary  men  surrounded  the  grave. 

With  his  usual  thoughtfulness  and  practical  kind- 
ness, he  soon  ascertained  the  position  in  which  poor 
Mrs.  Jerrold,  the  widow,  had  been  left.  He  found, 
as  he  had  really  suspected — for  few  men  of  letters 
were  such  good  business  men  as  Dickens — that  a 
helping  hand  would  be  necessary,  and  he  then,  in 
conjunction  with  Mark  Lemon,  Albert  Smith,  Arthur 
Smith,  and  other  friends,  formed  a  committee  to 
raise  a  fund,  which  was  to  be  known  as  the  "  Jerrold 
Fund." 

"  Dickens  entered  warmly  into  the  matter,"  re- 
marks  one   who   knew  him ;  *'  and   on   the   day  of 


238  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1857. 

Jerrold's  funeral,  after  dining  with  two  or  three 
friends,  of  whom  the  informant  was  one,  at  the 
Garrick  Club,  drew  up  the  programme  of  a  series  of 
entertainments,  which  was  that  same  night  taken 
round  to  the  editors  of  the  various  newspapers  for 
insertion."  Arthur  Smith  was  the  honorary  secre- 
tary, and  an  entertainment,  including  the  per- 
formance of  "  The  Frozen  Deep,"  was  given  at  the 
Egyptian  Hall,  on  4th  July,  at  which  the  Queen, 
Prince  Albert,  and  the  Royal  family  were  present. 
Other  performances  took  place  elsewhere,  and  read- 
ings were  given  by  Thackeray  and  Dickens  at  St. 
Martin's  Hall,  and  a  large  sum  of  money  was  the 
result. 

The  occasion  for  these  charitable  performances 
excited  considerable  outcry  and  disapprobation  in 
literary  circles,  Jerrold  being  esteemed  to  be  a  pros- 
perous man,  as  he  received  a  very  large  salary  as 
editor  of  Lloyd's  Weekly  Nezvspaper.  Dickens  and 
Arthur  Smith  at  once  communicated  to  the  papers 
the  result  of  their  labours,  viz.,  the  purchase  of  an 
annuity  for  the  widow  and  her  unmarried  daughter, 
and  added  that  they  had  considered  their  per- 
sonal responsibility  a  sufficient  refutation  to  any 
untrue  or  preposterous  statements  that  had  obtained 
circulation  as  to  property  asserted  to  have  been  left 
by  Mr.  Jerrold,  and  that  unless  they  had  thoroughly 
known,  and  beyond  all  doubt  assured  themselves,  that 
their  exertions  were  needed  by  the  dearest  objects  of 
Mr.  Jerrold's  love,  those  exertions  would  never  have 


iSS7-]  TAVISTOCK  HOUSE   THEATRICALS.  239 

been  heard  of.  Lord  Palmerston,  it  may  be  added, 
granted  to  the  widow  an  annual  pension  of  y;"  100 
out  of  the  Civil  List. 

It  was  at  the  anniversary  dinner  of  the  Ware- 
housemen and  Clerks'  Schools,  held  in  November  of 
this  year,  that  Dickens  made  his  well-known  speech 
upon  "Schools,"  when  he  told  his  hearers  of  all  the 
schools  he  did  not  like,  and,  after  a  long  enumera- 
tion of  these,  he  described  to  them  the  one  he  did 
like. 

The  Christmas  number  of  Household  Words  was 
entitled  "Perils  of  certain  English  Prisoners,"  and 
was  founded  on  the  Indian  Mutiny.  It  was  in  three 
chapters,  "  The  Island  of  Silver  Store,"  "  The  Prison 
in  the  Woods,"  and  "  The  Rafts  on  the  River," 
supposed  to  be  narrated  by  Gilbert  Davis,  private  in 
the  Royal  Marines.  It  is,  as  may  be  remembered, 
full  of  the  most  exciting  adventures. 


I^IMI^^^^ 


<f^''^f&-Q  'st-Q'^ir^ 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


WORKS  TRANSLATED  INTO   FRENCH.— DICKENS 
AND  THACKERAY. 

URING  this  year  a  complete  and  authorized 
edition  of  Dickens's  novels  was  published  in 
France,  beginning  with  "  Vie  et  Aventures 
de  Nicholas  Nickleby."  To  this  the  author  added 
this  introductory  address  to  the  French  public : — 

"  For  a  long  time  I  have  wished  to  see  a  uniform  and  com- 
plete translation  of  my  works  into  French.  Hitherto,  less 
fortunate  in  France  than  in  Germany,  I  have  not  been  made 
known  to  French  readers,  who  are  not  familiar  with  the  English 
language,  except  by  isolated  and  partial  translations,  published 
without  my  authority  and  control,  and  from  which  I  have 
derived  no  personal  advantage.  The  present  publication  has 
been  proposed  to  me  by  MM.  Hachette  and  Co.,  and  by  M, 
Charles  Lahure,  in  terms  which  do  honour  to  their  elevated, 
liberal,  and  generous  character.  It  has  been  executed  with 
great  care ;  and  the  numerous  difficulties  it  presents  have  been 
vanquished  with  uncommon  abihty,  intelligence  and  persever- 
ance. I  am  proud  of  being  thus  presented  to  the  French 
people,  whom  I  sincerely  love  and  honour." 

It  must  have  been  a  great  source  of  satisfaction  to 
him,  to  have  known  that  not  only  in  Western  Europe 
and  America  were  his  books,  with  their  kindly  teach- 
ings and  influences  for  good,  widely  read  by  the  com- 


1858.]  WOJ?/irS   TRANSLATED.  241 

mon  people,  but  that  as  far  away  as  Russia  there 
existed  a  translation  of  Dickens's  works,  all  of  which 
are  very  popular. 

"  Who  among  us " — exclaims  a  writer  in  Vedo- 
viostCy  one  of  the  leading  journals  of  St.  Petersburgh, 
— "  does  not  know  the  genius — who  has  not  read  the 
novels  of  Dickens  1  There  was  a  time  when  the 
Russian  translators  of  foreign  novels  did  almost  no- 
thing else  than  translate  the  charming  productions  of 
Boz  !  The  journals  and  newspapers  rivalled  each 
other  In  being  the  first  to  communicate  his  last  work. 
Every  word  he  wTote  was  offered  to  the  Russian 
reading  community  in  five  or  six  different  periodicals, 
and  as  soon  as  the  concluding  part  of  each  of  his 
novels  appeared  in  England,  a  variety  of  St.  Peters- 
burgh and  Moscow  editions  bore  the  fame  of 
Dickens  over  all  the  East  of  Europe.  Every  scrap 
of  Dickens  " — exclaims  the  Northern  critic  with  the 
keen  appetite  of  his  climate — "  has  been  devoured. 
With  the  sole  exception  of  Walter  Scott,  none 
among  the  English  novelists  has  enjoyed  such  an 
enormous  and  prolonged  success  as  Dickens." 

And  since  his  death  long  obituary  notices  of  him 
have  been  given  in  the  Italian  papers.  The  Diritto 
thinks  that  Sam  Weller  and  the  "  modern  Tartuffe," 
in  "Martin  Chuzzlewit/'will  be  immortal, like  Perpetua 
and  Don  Abbondio  in  Manzoni's  "  Promessi  Sposi," 
which  have  become  popular  types  of  character.  The 
Nazione  speak?  of  the  deceased  as  the  greatest  of 
modern  English  novelists.     *  He  was,"  it  adds,  **  for 

Q 


242  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1858. 

five-and-tliirty  years,  at  once  the  most  esteemed 
novelist  and  the  greatest  social  reformer  of  his  fel- 
low-countrymen. There  will  be  monuments  to  him 
in  marble  and  bronze,  but  his  finest  monument 
will  be  the  good  he  did  for  the  poorer  classes." 

In  March  of  this  year  Dickens  visited  Edinburgh 
to  read  his  *'  Christmas  Carol  "  to  upwards  of  2,000 
members  of  the  Philosophical  Institute  there.  After 
the  reading  was  over,  the  Lord  Provost  presented 
him  with  a  splendid  silver  wassail  bowl.  Dickens, 
in  replying,  said,  "the  first  great  public  recognition  and 
encouragement  I  ever  received  was  bestowed  on  me 
by  your  generous  and  magnificent  city.  To  come 
to  Edinburgh  is  to  me  like  coming  home." 

And  in  a  recent  letter  to  the  writer  of  an  article 
in  All  the  Year  Round — entitled  "  Dr.  Johnson  from 
a  Scottish  Point  of  View" — Dickens  said  :  "  By  all 
means  let  me  have  the  paper  proposed  ;  but,  in  han- 
dling JoJuisoUy  be  pleasant  with  the  Scottish  people, 
because  I  love  themy 

A  {^\N  days  after,  on  the  29th  of  March,  Thackeray, 
supported  by  Dickens  and  other  literary  men,  pre- 
sided at  the  Royal  General  Theatrical  Fund  Dinner 
at  the  Freemasons'  Tavern,  and  in  proposing  the 
health  of  the  chairman,  Dickens  took  occasion  to 
bear  his  testimony  to  the  goodness,  the  self-denial, 
and  the  self-respect  of  the  actors  of  England,  and 
passed  a  very  flattering  encomium  upon  the  chair- 
man's works :  "  It  is  not  for  me  at  this  time,  and  in 
this  place,"  he  said,  *'to  take  on  myself  to  flutter 


1858.]  DICKENS  AND   THACKERAY.  243 

before  you  the  well-thumbed  pages  of  Mr.  Thackeray's 
books,  and  to  tell  you  to  observe  how  full  they  are 
of   wit   and   wisdom,    how    out-speaking,    and   how 

devoid  of  fear  or  favour  they  are The 

bright  and  airy  pages  of  'Vanity  Fair.'  .  .  .  . 
To  this  skilful  showman,  who  has  so  often  delighted 
us,  and  who  has  charmed  us  again  to-night,  we  have 
now  to  wish  God  speed,  and  that  he  may  continue 
for  many  years  to  exercise  his  potent  art.  To  him 
fill  a  bumper  toast,  and  fervently  utter,  God  bless 
him!" 

Alas  !  the  "  many  years  "  were  to  be  barely  six ! 
In  1864  the  speaker  himself  wrote  some  memorial 
pages  commemorative  of  his  illustrious  friend  in  the 
deceased  author's  own  Cornhill  Magazine. 

So  much  interest  had  been  shown  by  the  public  in 
Mr.  Dickens's  performance  of  his  part  of  the  "  Jer- 
rold  Fund  "  programme,  that  he  now  determined  to 
give  his  readings  professionally,  and  as  an  avowed 
source  of  income.  It  was  on  the  evening  of  Thurs- 
day, the  29th  of  April,  1858,  that  he  appeared  in  St. 
Martin's  Hall  (now  converted  into  the  New  Queen's 
Theatre),  for  the  first  time,  as  a  source  of  personal 
profit  to  himself. 

We  may  mention,  that  on  the  25th  of  the  following 
month,  one  of  the  assistants  in  the  Library  at  the 
British  Museum,  M.  Louis  Augistin  Prevost,  a  great 
linguist,  died.  It  was  he  who  imparted  instruction 
in  the  French  tongue  to  Dickens. 

We  come  now  to  a  painful  matter,  which  occasioned 

Q  2 


244  ^^^^  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1858. 

a  great  talk  at  the  time,  and  led  Mr.  Dickens's 
warmest  friends  to  marvel  at  the  course  he  had 
thought  fit  to  pursue. 

It  appears  that  some  domestic  unhappiness  in  the 
great  novelist's  family  had  occasioned  the  usual 
gossip  out  of  doors,  and  these  "  rumours  and 
slanders  " — as  he  energetically  termed  the  whisperings 
that  were  so  repugnant  to  him — led  to  his  inserting 
a  manifesto  on  the  front  page  of  HouseJwld  Words.^ 

All  the  newspapers  and  journals  copied  it,  with 
various  comments, — in  some  cases  exceedingly  ran- 
corous and  spiteful, — and  various  long  letters  and 
documents  from  friends  on  both  sides  appeared  in 
the  public  journals.  The  simple  explanation  was, 
that  a  misunderstanding  had  arisen  betwixt  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Dickens,  of  a  purely  domestic  character — so 
domestic — almost  trivial,  indeed — that  neither  law 
nor  friendly  arbitration  could  define  or  fix  the 
difficulty  sufficiently  clear  to  adjudicate  upon  it. 
All  we  can  say  is,  that  it  was  a  very  great  pity  that 
a  purely  family  dispute  should  have  been  brought 
before  the  public,  and  saying  thus  much,  we  trust 
the  reader  will  think  we  act  wisely  in  dropping 
any  further  mention  of  it. 

That  Mr.  Dickens  loved  his  home,  and  that  his 
domestic  tastes  were  very  strong,  there  is  abundant 
proof  Hawthorne,  in  his  "English  Diary,"  has  a 
passage  apropos  of  this  : — "  Mr.  Dickens  mentioned 
how  he  preferred  home  enjoyments  to  all  others,  and 

*  June  1 2th. 


1858.]  DICKENS  AND    THACKERAY.  245 

did  not  willingly  go  much  into  society.  Mrs.  Dickens, 
too,  the  other  day  told  us  of  his  taking  on  himself  all 
possible  trouble  as  regards  their  domestic  affairs." 

It  is  somewhat  singular  that  on  the  very  day  when 
Mr.  Dickens's  personal  explanation  appeared  in 
Household  IVords,  on  that  very  day,  I2th  June,  1858, 
a  paper,  also  of  a  personal  character,  but  concern- 
ing our  author's  distinguished  contemporary,  Mr. 
W.  M.  Thackeray,  appeared  in  a  little  journal 
called  Town  Talk;  both  articles  eventually  acquiring 
a  painful  notoriety,  and  the  latter  occasioning  an 
unhappy  difference  between  the  two  great  men. 
The  article  which  occasioned  so  much  pain  to  Mr. 
Thackeray  professed  to  give  an  account  of  the  author 
of  "  Vanity  Fair " — his  appearance,  his  career,  and 
his  success.  The  article  was  coarse  and  offensive  in 
tone,  but  it  was  notorious  that  the  periodical  was 
edited  by  a  clever  writer  of  the  day,  well  known  to 
Mr.  Thackeray  as  a  brother  member  of  a  club  to 
which  he  belonged.  As  such,  the  subject  of  the 
attack  felt  himself  compelled  to  take  notice  of  it. 
This  is  a  specimen  of  the  article  : — 
''  His  Appearance. 

"  Mr.  Thackeray  is  forty-six  years  old,  though 
from  the  silvery  whiteness  of  his  hair  he  appears 
somewhat  older.  He  is  very  tall,  standing  upwards 
of  six  feet  two  inches.  His  face  is  bloodless,  and 
not  particularly  expressive,  but  remarkable  for  the 
fracture  of  the  bridge  of  the  nose,  the  result  of  an 
accident  in  youth.     His  bearing  is  cold   and  unin- 


245  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1858. 

viting,  his  style  of  conversation  either  openly  cynical 
or  affectedly  good-natured  and  benevolent ;  his  bo7i- 
hojnmie  is  forced,  his  wit  biting,  his  pride  easily 
touched. 

"  His  Success. 

"  No  one  succeeds  better  than  Mr.  Thackeray  in 

cutting  his  coat  according  to  his  cloth 

Our  own  opinion  is,  that  his  success  is  on  the  wane." 

Two  days  later  Mr.  Thackeray  addressed  the 
assumed  writer  of  this  article  in  a  manly  but  indig- 
nant letter. 

Subsequently  Mr.  Thackeray,  "rather  (he  said) 
than  have  any  further  correspondence  with  the  writer 
of  the  character,"  determined  to  submit  the  letters 
which  had  passed  between  them  to  the  committee  of 
the  club.  The  committee  accordingly  met,  and  de- 
cided that  the  writer  of  the  attack  complained  of  was 
bound  to  make  an  ample  apology,  or  to  retire  from 
the  club.  The  latter  contested  the  right  of  the  com- 
mittee to  interfere.  Suits  at  law  and  proceedings  in 
Chancery  against  the  committee  were  threatened, 
when  Mr.  Dickens,  who  was  also  a  member  of  the 
club,  interfered,  with  the  following  letter  : — 

"  Tavistock  House,  Tavistock  Square,  London,  W.C. 
"Wednesday,  24th  November,  1858. 

"  My  dear  Thackeray,  —  Without  a  word  of 
prelude,  I  wish  this  note  to  revert  to  a  subject  on 
which  I  said  six  words  to  you  at  the  Athenaeum 
when  I  last  saw  you. 


i8s8.]  DICKENS  AND   THACKERAY.  247 

"  Coming  home  from  my  country  work,  I  find  Mr. 
Edwin  James's  opinion  taken  on  this  painful  question 
of  the  Garrick  and  Mr.  Edmund  Yates.  I  find  it 
strong  on  the  illegality  of  the  Garrick  proceeding. 
Not  to  complicate  this  note,  or  give  it  a  formal 
appearance,  I  forbear  from  copying  the  opinion  ;  but 
I  have  asked  to  see  it,  and  I  have  it,  and  I  want  to 
make  no  secret  from  you  of  a  word  of  it. 

"  I  find  Mr.  Edwin  James  retained  on  the  one 
side  ;  I  hear  and  read  of  the  Attorney-General  being 
retained  on  the  other.  Let  me,  in  this  state  of 
things,  ask  you  a  plain  question. 

"  Can  any  conference  be  held  between  me,  as 
representing  Mr.  Yates,  and  an  appointed  friend  of 
yours,  as  representing  you,  with  the  hope  and  pur- 
pose of  some  quiet  accommodation  of  this  deplor- 
able matter,  which  will  satisfy  the  feelings  of  all 
concerned  "i 

"  It  is  right  that,  in  putting  this  to  you,  I  should 
tell  you  that  Mr.  Yates,  when  you  first  wrote  to  him, 
brought  your  letter  to  me.  He  had  recently  done 
me  a  manly  service  I  can  never  forget,  in  some 
private  distress  of  mine  (generally  within  your  know- 
ledge), and  he  naturally  thought  of  me  as  his  friend 
in  an  emergency.  I  told  him  that  his  article  was 
not  to  be  defended  ;  but  I  confirmed  him  in  his 
opinion,  that  it  was  not  reasonably  possible  for  him 
to  set  right  what  was  amiss,  on  the  receipt  of  a 
letter  couched  in  the  very  strong  terms  you  had 
employed.     When  you  appealed  to  the  Garrick  com- 


248  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1858. 

mittee  and  they  called  their  general  meeting,  I  said 
at  that  meeting  that  you  and  I  had  been  on  good 
terms  for  many  years,  and  that  I  was  very  sorry  to 
find  myself  opposed  to  you ;  but  that  I  was  clear 
that  the  committee  had  nothing  on  earth  to  do  with 
it,  and  that  in  the  strength  of  my  conviction  I  should 
go  against  them. 

"  If  this  mediation  that  I  have  suggested  can  take 
place,  I  shall  be  heartily  glad  to  do  my  best  in  it — 
and  God  knows  in  no  hostile  spirit  towards  any  one, 
least  of  all  to  you.  If  it  cannot  take  place,  the 
thing  is  at  least  no  worse  than  it  was  ;  and  you  will 
burn  this  letter,  and  I  will  burn  your  answer. 

"  Yours  faithfully, 

"Charles  Dickens, 
"W.  M.  Thackeray,  Esq." 

To  this  Mr.  Thackeray  replied  : — 

"36,  Onslow  Square,  26th  November,  1858. 

**  Dear  Dickens,  —  I  grieve  to  gather  from  your 
letter  that  you  were  Mr.  Yates's  adviser  in  the  dis- 
pute between  me  and  him.  His  letter  was  the  cause 
of  my  appeal  to  the  Garrick  Club  for  protection  from 
insults  against  which  I  had  no  other  remedy. 

*'  I  placed  my  grievance  before  the  committee  of 
the  club  as  the  only  place  where  I  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  meet  Mr.  Yates.  They  gave  their  opinion 
of  his  conduct,  and  of  the  reparation  which  lay  in  his 
power.  Not  satisfied  with  their  sentence,  Mr.  Yates 
called    for  a  general    meeting;    and,   the    meeting 


i8s8.]  DICKENS  AND   THACKERAY.  249 

which  he  had  called  having  declared  against  him,  he 
declines  the  jurisdiction  which  he  had  asked  for,  and 
says  he  will  have  recourse  to  lawyers. 

"You  say  that  Mr.  Edwin  James  is  strongly  of 
opinion  that  the  conduct  of  the  club  is  illegal.  On 
this  point  I  can  give  no  sort  of  judgment ;  nor  can  I 
conceive  that  the  club  will  be  frightened,  by  the 
opinion  of  any  lawyer,  out  of  their  own  sense  of  the 
justice  and  honour  which  ought  to  obtain  among 
gentlemen. 

"  Ever  since  I  submitted  my  case  to  the  club,  I 

have  had,  and  can  have,  no  part  in  the  dispute.     It 

is  for  them  to  judge  if  any  reconcilement  is  possible 

with  your  friend.     I   subjoin  the  copy  of  a  letter* 

which  I  wrote  to  the  committee,   and  refer  you  to 

them  for  the  issue. 

"Yours,  &c., 

"  W.  M.  Thackeray. 
"C.  Dickens,  Esq." 

*  The  enclosure  referred  to  was  as  follows : — 

"Onslow  Square,  Nov.  28,  1858. 

"Gendemen, — I  have  this  day  received  a  communication 
from  Mr.  Charles  Dickens,  relative  to  the  dispute  which  has 
been  so  long  pending,  in  which  he  says  :— 

"  *  Can  any  conference  be  held  between  me,  as  representing 
Mr.  Yates,  and  any  appointed  friend  of  yours,  as  representing 
you,  in  the  hope  and  purpose  of  some  quiet  accommodation  of 
this  deplorable  matter,  which  will  satisfy  the  feelings  of  all 
parties  ? ' 

"  I  have  written  to  Mr.  Dickens  to  say,  that  since  the  com- 
mencement of  this  business,  I  have  placed  myself  entirely  in 


250  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1858. 

the  hands  of  the  committee  of  the  Garrick,  and  am  still,  as 
ever,  prepared  to  abide  by  any  decision  at  which  they  may 
arrive  on  the  subject.  I  conceive  I  cannot,  if  I  would,  make 
the  dispute  once  more  personal,  or  remove  it  out  of  the  court 
to  which  I  submitted  it  for  arbitration. 

"  If  you  can  devise  any  peaceful  means  for  ending  it,  no  one 
will  be  better  pleased  than 

*'  Your  obliged  faithful  servant, 

"  W.  M.  Thackeray. 

**The  Committee  of  the  Garrick  Club." 

It  would  be  in  vain  to  attempt  to  conceal  that  this 
painful  affair  left  a  coolness  between  Mr.  Thackeray 
and  his  brother  novelist.  Mr.  Thackeray,  smarting 
under  the  elaborate  and  unjust  attack,  portions  of 
which  were  copied  and  widely  circulated  in  other 
journals,  could  not  but  regard  the  friend  and  adviser 
of  his  critic  as  in  some  degree  associated  with  it ;  and 
Mr.  Dickens,  on  the  other  hand,  naturally  hurt  at 
finding  his  offer  of  arbitration  rejected,  gave  the 
letters  to  the  original  author  of  the  trouble  for  pub- 
lication, with  the  remark — "  As  the  receiver  of  my 
letter  did  not  respect  the  confidence  in  which  it 
addressed  him,  there  can  be  none  left  for  you  to 
violate.  I  send  you  what  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Thackeray, 
and  what  he  wrote  to  me,  and  you  are  at  perfect 
liberty  to  print  the  two."  Thus,  for  awhile,  ended 
this  painful  affair.  Readers  of  Disraeli's  "  Quarrels 
of  Authors  "  will  miss  in  it  those  sterner  features  of 
the  dissensions  between  literary  men  as  they  were 
conducted  in  the  old  times ;  but  none  can  contem- 
plate this  difference  between  the  two  great  masters 


1858.]  DICKENS  AND   THACKERAY.  251 

of  fiction  of  our  day  with  other  than  feelings  of 
regret  for  the  causes  which  led  to  it. 

It  is  pleasing,  however,  to  learn  that  the  difterences 
between  them  were  ended  before  Mr.  Thackeray's 
death.  Singularly  enough,  this  happy  circumstance 
occurred  only  a  few  days  before  the  time  when  it 
would  have  been  too  late.  The  two  great  authors 
met  by  accident  in  the  lobby  of  a  club.  They 
suddenly  turned  and  saw  each  other,  and  the  un- 
restrained impulse  of  both  was  to  hold  out  the  hand 
of  forgiveness  and  fellowship.  With  that  hearty 
grasp  the  difference  which  estranged  them  ceased 
for  ever.  This  must  have  been  a  great  consolation 
to  Mr.  Dickens,  when  he  saw  his  great  brother  laid  in 
the  earth  at  Kensal  Green  ;  and  no  one  who  read 
the  beautiful  and  affecting  article  on  Thackeray,  from 
the  hand  of  Mr.  Dickens,  which  appeared  in  the 
Cornhill  Magazine,  can  doubt  that  all  trace  of  this 
painful  affair  had  then  vanished. 


<©<><^>> 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

ROYAL  DRAMATIC    COLLEGE. — "ALL  THE  YEAR 

ROUND." 


]E  turn  now  to  a  more  pleasant  theme.  On  the 
2 1st  July,  1858,  a  public  meeting  was  held  at 
the  Princess's  Theatre,  for  the  purpose  of 


establishing  the  now  famous  Royal  Dramatic  College. 
Mr.  Charles  Kean  was  the  chairman,  and  Dickens 
delivered  one  of  his  excellent  speeches  on  a  topic  ever 
dear  to  him — the  theatrical  profession.  Charles  Kean 
was  then  conducting  his  Shakspearian  revivals — those 
splendid  pageantries  and  archaeological  displays  which 
we  all  remember  at  this  theatre  twelve  years  ago — 
and  Dickens,  with  his  usual  tact,  turned  the  circum- 
stance to  account  in  his  speech.  The  play  then  being 
performed  was  the  "  Merchant  of  Venice,"  and,  in 
concluding,  the  speaker  remarked,  "  I  could  not  but 
reflect,  whilst  Mr.  Kean  was  speaking,  that  in  an 
hour  or  two  from  this  time  the  spot  upon  which 
we  are  now  assembled  will  be  transformed  into  the 
scene  of  a  crafty  and  a  cruel  bond.  I  knew  that,  a 
few  hours  hence,  the  Grand  Canal  of  Venice  will  flow, 
with  picturesque  fidelity,  on  the  very  spot  where  I 
now  stand  dryshod,  and  that  the  *  quality  of  mercy ' 


1858.1  ROYAL  DRAMATIC  COLLEGE.  253 

will  be  beautifully  stated  to  the  Venetian  Council  by 
a  learned  young  doctor  from  Padua; — on  these  very 
boards  on  which  we  now  enlarge  upon  the  quality  of 
charity  and  sympathy.  Knowing  this,  it  came  into 
my  mind  to  consider  how  different  the  real  bond  of 
to-day  from  the  ideal  bond  of  to-night.  Nozu,  all 
generosity,  all  forbearance,  all  forgetfulness  of  little 
jealousies  and  unworthy  divisions,  all  united  action 
for  the  general  good.  Theji,  all  selfishness,  all 
malignity,  all  cruelty,  all  revenge,  and  all  evil, — iiozv 
all  good.  Thc?t,  a  bond  to  be  broken  within  the 
compass  of  a  few — three  or  four — swiftly  passing 
hours, — nozv,  a  bond  to  be  valid  and  of  good  effect 
generations  hence." 

The  committee's  labours  were  successful,  and  an 
elegant  building,  in  the  Elizabethan  style,  at  Maybury, 
was  the  result.  On  June  1st,  i860,  the  late  Prince 
Consort,  in  laying  the  foundation  stone,  spoke  of  the 
Dramatic  College  as  conferring  "  a  benefit  upon  the 
public  as  well  as  upon  the  stage,  by  aiding  a  profession 
from  which  the  community  at  large  derived  national 
entertainment."  Five  years  after,  on  5th  June,  the 
Prince  of  Wales  inaugurated  the  Central  Hall  of  the 
College.  The  annual  Fancy  Fair  at  the  Crystal 
Palace,  and  the  junketings  thereat,  it  is  needless  to 
say,  are  the  means  of  adding  a  large  accession  to  the 
funds. 

During  the  autumn  months  of  this  year,  the 
readings  were  continued  in  London,  and  at  various 
large  towns   in   England  and  Ireland  ;  the  novelist 


?S4  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1858. 

receiving  both  applause  and  money  to  a  greater 
extent  than  ever. 

It  was  in  November,  1858,  that  he  allowed  his  name 
to  be  put  in  nomination  for  the  high  office  of  Lord 
Rector  of  Glasgow  University.  His  rivals  were  Lord 
Lytton  (who  was  chosen  to  the  office),  and  Lord 
Shaftesbury.     The  result  of  the  poll  was : 

Lord  Lytton.  Lord  Shaftesbury.  Dickens. 

216.  203.  68. 

The  cause  of  this  large  minority  is  now  not  remem- 
bered, but  it  is  more  than  probable  that  Dickens  took 
no  special  pains  to  secure  votes  in  his  own  behalf. 

During  the  following  month  he  was  entertained  at 
a  public  dinner  by  the  citizens  of  Coventry,  and 
received  from  them  a  very  handsome  gold  watch,  as 
a  testimony  of  their  gratitude  for  his  reading,  in  aid 
of  the  Coventry  Institute,  twelve  months  before. 
The  day  previously  he  had  presided  at  Manchester, 
in  aid  of  an  Institute  there. 

Early  in  1859  a  dispute  arose  betwixt  Mr.  Dickens 
and  his  publishers,  originating  mainly  in  the  unfortu- 
nate family  disagreement  to  which  we  alluded  on  a 
former  page, — and  in  consequence  of  this  the  con- 
ductor of  Household  Words  resolved  that  the  journal 
should  cease,  and  he  would  close  business  relations 
with  Messrs.  Bradbury  and  Evans.  Mr.  Dickens 
advertised  that  the  discontinuance  oi Household  Words 
would  take  place  on  March  28th.  Messrs.  Bradbury 
and  Evans  filed  a  Bill  in  Chancery,  and  the  matter 


1859.]   DISCONTINUANCE   OF  *'  HOUSEHOLD    WORDS."  255 

was  heard  by  the  Master  of  the  Rolls.  Both  parties 
refusing  to  sell  their  Interest,  the  winding  up  of  the 
publication  was  directed.  Dickens  owned  five-eighths, 
and  had  command  over  another  eighth.  At  the  sale, 
on  1 6th  May,  by  Mr.  Hodgson  of  Chancery  Lane, 
the  property,  after  a  spirited  contest,  was  knocked 
down  to  Dickens  (represented  by  Mr.  Arthur  Smith), 
for  ^3,550.  In  the  last  number  of  Household  Words, 
introducing  the  forthcoming  periodical,  he  wrote  : — 

*'  He  knew  perfecdy  well,  knowing  his  own  rights,  and  his 
means  of  attaining  them,  that  //  cou/J  not  be  but  that  this  work 
must  stop,  if  he  chose  to  stop  it.  He  therefore  announced, 
many  weeks  ago,  that  it  would  be  discontinued  on  the  day  on 
which  this  final  number  bears  date.  The  public  have  read  a 
great  deal  to  the  contrary,  and  will  observe  that  it  has  not  in 
the  least  affected  the  result." 

Messrs.  Bradbury  and  Evans,  to  justify  their  pro- 
ceedings, published  a  statement,  affirming — 

"  That  Household  Words  stopped  against  their  will,  and  men- 
tioned the  appearance  of  Once  a  Week, — remarking,  at  the  same 
time,  that  their  business  relations  with  Dickens  had  commenced 
in  1836;  that,  in  1844,  they  acquired  an  interest  in  all  works 
he  might  write,  or  in  any  periodical  he  might  originate,  during 
a  term  of  seven  years,  and  that  under  this  agreement  they  became 
possessed  of  a  joint  though  unequal  share  of  Household  Words, 
which  started  in  1850;  that  on  the  publication  of  his  mani- 
festo as  to  his  conjugal  differences,  they  understood  from  a  friend 
that  he  had  resolved  to  break  off  his  connections  with  them,  by 
reason  of  its  non-insertion  in  Punchy  in  which  they  had  not 
thought  fit  to  do  so,  Punch  being  entirely  a  comic  publication  ; 
that  in  the  November  he  summoned  a  meeting  of  the  proprie- 


256  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1859. 

tors,  and  in  consequence  of  the  advertisement  announcing  the 
cessation  of  the  work,  they  had  no  alternative  but  to  apply  to 
the  Master  of  the  Rolls  for  protection." 

It  was  a  most  unfortunate  affair,  as  Mr.  C.  Dickens, 
junr.,  had  married  Mr.  Evans's  daughter,  and  thus 
a  family,  as  well  as  a  business,  disagreement  came 
about.  Mr.  Dickens's  next  step  was  to  return  to  his 
original  publishers,  Messrs.  Chapman  and  Hall,  who 
now  issue  all  his  works. 

All  the  Year  Round  was  the  title  of  Mr.  Dickens's 
new  venture,  taking  its  motto,  like  Household  Words, 
from  Shakspeare, — 

**  The  story  of  our  lives  from  year  to  year." 

In  its  first  number  was  contained  the  commence- 
ment of  ''A  Tale  of  Two  Cities,"  subsequently  pub- 
lished by  Messrs.  Chapman  and  Hall,  illustrated 
by  Mr.  Hablot  K.  Browne  (better  known  as  "  Phiz  "), 
and  dedicated  to  Earl  Russell. 

In  the  preface,  the  author  mentions  that  he  first 
thought  of  the  story  while  acting  with  his  children 
and  friends  in  Mr.  Wilkie  Collins's  drama  of  "  The 
Frozen  Deep."  "  As  the  idea  became  familiar  to  me, 
it  gradually  shaped  itself  into  its  present  form. 
Throughout  its  execution,  it  has  had  complete  pos- 
session of  me  ;  I  have  so  far  verified  what  is  done  and 
suffered  in  these  pages,  as  that  I  have  certainly  done 
and  suffered  it  all  myself.  ....  It  has  been 
one  of  my  hopes  to  add  something  to  the  popular 
and  picturesque  means  of  understanding  that  terrible 


I859-]  "ALL   THE   YEAR  ROUND."  257 

time,  though  no  one  can  hope  to  add  anything  to 
the  philosophy  of  Mr.  Carlyle'S  wonderful  book." 

Dickens  had  the  greatest  respect  for  the  works  of 
that  eminent  writer,  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  say 
which  of  the  two  distinguished  authors,  Tennyson  or 
Carlyle,  he  was  most  fond  of  quoting.  Only  a  few 
weeks  before  his  death,  Mr.  Arthur  Locker  was  dis- 
cussing some  literary  topics  with  him  : — "  On  this 
occasion,"  that  gentleman  writes,  "  Mr.  Dickens  con- 
versed with  me  chiefly  about  Mr.  Carlyle's  writings, 
for  whose  '  French  Revolution '  he  expressed  the 
strongest  admiration,  as  he  has  practically  shown 
in  his  '  Tale  of  Two  Cities.'  " 

The  story  holds  the  reader  perfectly  spell-bound. 
The  power  and  awful  grandeur  exhibited  in  the 
descriptive  scenes  of  bloodshed  and  carnage,  enacted 
in  the  dreadful  reign  of  Terror,  are  almost  beyond 
conception.  It  has,  however,  occasional  passages 
of  humour — as,  for  instance,  where  Mr.  Jeremiah 
Cruncher  determines  not  to  let  his  wife  say  her 
prayers,  being  of  opinion  that  such  a  course  of  pro- 
cedure, described  by  him  as  ''flopping,"  is  injurious 
to  his  business ! 

Tom  Taylor  dramatized  the  story  for  the  Lyceum, 
where  it  was  produced  the  January  following,  but  it 
met  with  an  indifferent  reception,  although  the  prin- 
cipal character  was  undertaken  by  Madame  Celeste. 

During  October,  Dickens  gave  readings  at  the 
Town  Hall,  Oxford,  and  attracted  large  audiences. 
On  one  occasion  the  Prince  of  Wales,  then  entering 

R 


258  IJFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  (1859. 

on  his  career  as  an  Oxonian,  was  present,  and  ex- 
pressed considerable  satisfaction  at  the  pleasure  he 
had  experienced  in  hearing  him  read. 

The  reader  may  remember  that,  on  an  earlier  page, 
we  gave  an  account  of  the  handsome  present  which 
Mr.  Dickens  once  received  from  his  many  Birming- 
ham friends — more  especially  his  artist  friends  there. 
On  that  occasion  an  address  was  presented  to  him, 
expressing  the  great  admiration  all  Birmingham 
people  felt  for  his  genius.  Mr.  W.  P.  Frith,  in  his 
portrait  of  Dickens,  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy 
in  1858,  made  the  address  form  a  portion  of  the 
picture ;  but  a  Mr.  Walker,  an  artist  of  Birmingham, 
could  scarcely  believe  that  the  great  novelist  had 
troubled  himself  to  remember  the  address,  so  he 
wrote  to  know  the  truth  of  the  matter,  when  Mr. 
Dickens  immediately  replied  : — "  I  have  great  plea- 
sure in  assuring  you  that  the  framed  address  in  Mr. 
Frith's  portrait  is  the  address  presented  to  me  by  my 
Birmingham  friends,  and  to  which  you  refer.  It  has 
stood  at  my  elbow,  in  that  one  place,  ever  since  I 
received  it,  and,  please  God,  it  will  remain  at  my  side 
as  long  as  I  live  and  work."  * 

It  was  the  Christmas  number  for  this  year,  "  The 
Haunted  House,"  which  at  the  time  provoked  so  much 
discussion  on  the  subject  of  ghosts  and  supernatural 
visitors.  The  idea  of  the  number  may  have  been 
suggested  by  the  appearance  of  a  work,  published  a 

*  Tuesday,  July  20th,  1859. 


1859]  *'ALL   THE  YEAR  ROUND."  259 

few  months  previously,  entitled  "  A  Night  in  a 
Haunted  House :  a  Tale  of  Facts.  By  the  Author 
of  '  Kazan/  and  dedicated  to  Charles  Dickens." 
Howitt  took  the  matter  up  warmly,  and  Dickens,  in 
a  letter  to  Howitt,  said  that  he  had  always  taken 
great  interest  in  these  matters,  but  required  evidence 
such  as  he  had  not  yet  met  with  ;  and  that  when  he 
thinks  of  the  amount  of  misery  and  injustice  that  con- 
stantly obtains  in  this  world,  which  a  word  from  the 
departed  dead  person  in  question  could  set  right,*  he 
would  not  believe — could  not  believe — in  the  War 
Office  ghost  without  overwhelming  evidence. 

Howitt  sent  a  letter  to  one  of  the  weekly  papers, 
stating  that  "  Mr.  Dickens  wrote  me  some  time  ago, 
to  request  that  I  would  point  out  to  him  some  house 
said  to  be  haunted.  I  named  to  him  two — that  at 
Cheshunt,  formerly  inhabited  by  the  Chapmans,  and 
one  at  Wellington,  near  Newcastle.  Never  SQQrx 
former,  but  had  the  latter."  Dickens  went  to  Ches- 
hunt, and  visited  the  house,  and  communicated  to 
Howitt  that  the  house  in  which  the  Chapmans  lived 
has  been  greatly  enlarged,  and  commands  a  high 
rent,  and  is  no  more  disturbed  than  this  house  of 
mine." 

If  any  one  of  a  nervous  and  superstitious  tem- 
perament will  read  all  the  seven  ghost  stories  con- 
tained in  "The  Haunted  House,"   at   a  late  hour, 

*   **  Oh,  that  it  were  possible,  for  one  short  hour,  to  see 
The  souls  we  loved,  that  they  might  tell  us 
What  and  where  they  be!" — Tcf^nyson, 

R  2 


26o  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [i860. 

alone,  and  In  a  dull  and  gloomy  room,  a  very  quiet  and 
comfortable  night's  rest  may  be  safely  calculated  on ! 

About  this  time  the  Americans  tried  very  hard 
to  persuade  Dickens  to  visit  them  and  give  his 
readings,  and  many  of  their  newspapers  were 
jubilant  at  the  idea,  and  reported  that  his  services 
had  been  secured.  To  dissipate  all  doubts,  he  wrote 
to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Foster,  of  Boston,  U.S.A. : — 

"  I  beg  to  assure  you,  in  reply  to  your  obliging 
letter,  that  you  are  misinformed,  and  that  I  have  no 
intention  of  visiting  America  in  the  ensuing  autumn."* 

In  the  numbers  for  the  4th  and  i  ith  August,  i860, 
oi  All  the  Year  Roimd,  the  two  portions  of  "Hunted 
Down  "  appeared.  It  was  supposed  to  be  a  reminis- 
cence supplied  by  a  Mr.  Sampson,  chief  manager  of 
a  life  assurance  office,  relating  the  history  of  an 
assurance  effected  on  the  life  of  Mr.  Alfred  Beckwith 
by  Mr.  Julius  Slinkton,  whom  he  (Slinkton)  attempts 
to  poison  to  get  the  money ;  but,  foiled  in  his  object, 
destroys  himself.  The  story  was  of  a  most  melo- 
dramatic and  sensational  character.  Before  it 
appeared  In  this  country,  it  had  a  six  months'  run  in 
the  New  York  Ledger^  and  the  American  publisher 
paid  ;^i,ooo  for  the  privilege.  Dickens  was  loth  to 
undertake  Its  composition,  but  finally  his  objections 
were  overcome.  "  I  thought,"  he  wrote  to  the  Ameri- 
can publisher,  "  that  I  could  not  be  tempted  at  this 
time  to  engage  in  any  undertaking,  however  short, 

■*  Wednesday  night,  ytli  September,  1859. 


i86o.]  '*ALL    THE    YEAR  ROUND."  261 

but  the  literary  project  which  will  come  into  active 
existence  next  month.  But  your  proposal  is  so  hand- 
some that  it  changes  my  resolution,  and   I   cannot 

refuse   it I  will  endeavour  to  be  at  work 

upon  the  tale  while  this  note  is  on  its  way  to  you 
across  the  water."  The  "  project "  referred  to  here 
as  coming  into  active  existence  next  month  was  "  A 
Tale  of  Two  Cities." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 
*'THE   UNCOMMERCIAL   TRAVELLER." 


T  was  at  the  end  of  this  year  that  a  series 
of  quaint  and  descriptive  papers,  which  had 
appeared  in  All  the  Year  Roimdy  was  pub- 
lished by  Messrs.  Chapman  and  Hall,  under  the 
title  of  "  The  Uncommercial  Traveller."  They  were 
originally  seventeen  in  number,  but  in  a  subsequent 
edition  they  were  increased  to  twenty-eight  papers, 
bearing  such  titles  as  "  City  Churches,"  "  Sly  Neigh- 
bourhoods," "  Night  Walks,"  "  Chambers,"  "  Birth- 
days," "  Funerals,"  "  Tramps."  We  need  scarcely 
remark  that  they  are  all  admirably  written,  and 
abound  in  delicate  touches.  In  "Nurse's  Stories," 
Mr.  Dickens  says, — "  Brobingnag  (which  has  the 
curious  fate  of  being  usually  mis-spelt  when  writ- 
ten)." Here  the  illustrious  author  actually  falls  into 
the  very  error  he  is  speaking  of.  The  proper 
spelling  of  the  word  is  BrobY^bignag. 

It  was  in  the  autumn  of  this  year  that  Mr.  Dickens 
finally  removed  from  Tavistock  House  to  Gad's  Hill, 
a  place  which  he  had  purchased  four  years  before. 
Some  arrangement,  we  believe,  in  connection  with 
the  lease  of  the  London  house  prevented  his  remov- 


THE     HOME    OF    CHARLES     DICKENS, 

i860— 1870. 


GAD'S  HILL  PLACE,  near  Rochester. 

Mr.  Dickens's  last  residence.  Here  "Great  E.xpectations,"  "Our  Mutual  Friend," 
"The  Uncommercial  Traveller,"  and  portions  of  "  Edwin  Drood,"  were  written.  As 
is  well  known,  he  died  here,  9th  June,  1870. 


THE  SWISS  CHALET 

Presented  to  Dickens  by  his  English  friends  in  Switzerland.     It  forms  a  summer- 
house  in  the  grounds  at  Gad's  Hill. 


i860.]  ''THE    UNCOMMERCIAL    TRAVELLER."  263 

ing  earlier.  Tavistock  House  thenceforward  became 
the  residence  of  Mr.  Phineas  Davis,  a  gentleman  well 
known  in  aristocratic  circles.  The  house  next  to 
Tavistock  House  was  occupied  by  the  late  Mr.  Frank 
Stone,  the  eminent  artist,  and  for  a  long  time  Mr. 
Dickens's  neighbour. 

The  Christmas  number  for  i860  was  "A  Message 
from  the  Sea."  It  was  here  that  we  became 
acquainted  with  Captain  Jorgan,  the  American 
captain,  and  his  faithful  steward,  Tom  Pettifer.  The 
Captain's  task  satisfactorily  terminated,  he  shakes 
hands  with  the  entire  population  of  the  fishing 
village,  inviting  the  whole,  without  exception,  to 
come  and  stay  with  him  for  several  months  at  Salem, 
U.S. 

"  The  Seafaring  Man,"  narrating  the  shipwreck, 
and  the  island  on  fire,  in  intensity  and  vividness  of 
description,  are  wonderful  pieces  of  writing. 

The  manager  of  the  Britannia  Theatre,  Hoxton, 
having  announced  for  representation  a  dramatic 
adaptation  of  the  tale,  Dickens,  in  a  letter  to  the 
Times,  gave  his  reasons  for  interfering  with  its  pro- 
duction. Subsequently,  Mr.  Charles  Reade  tried  the 
question  in  his  action  against  Mr.  Conquest  for  repre- 
senting "  Never  too  Late  to  Mend,"  and  was  unsuc- 
cessful. 

It  was  towards  the  close  of  this  year  that  "  Great 
Expectations,"  which  had  been  published  in  All  the 
Year  Round,  came  out  in  the  (for  Mr.  Dickens)  some- 
what unusual  form — the  old  lending-library  form — of 


264  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [i860. 

three  volumes,  and  was  published  by  Messrs.  Chap- 
man and  Hall,  illustrated  by  Marcus  Stone,  and 
inscribed  to  Mr.  C.  H.  Townshend.  It  is  a  novel  of 
the  most  peculiar  and  fantastic  construction,  the  plot 
of  an  extraordinary  description,  and  the  characters 
often  grotesque,  and  sometimes  impossible.  Here 
we  meet  with  Abel  Magwitch,  the  convict,  a  power- 
fully drawn  character  ;  with  Pip,  a  selfish,  and  often- 
times a  pitiful  fellow,  but  good  in  the  end,  when  his 
expectations  have  entirely  faded  ;  with  Joe  Gargery, 
the  blacksmith,  the  finest  character  of  all — kind, 
patient,  and  true  to  Pip,  from  his  infancy  to  man- 
hood, shielding  him  in  all  his  shortcomings  when  a 
child,  and  liberally  spooning  gravy  into  his  plate  when 
he  gets  talked  at  by  Pumblechook  at  dinner  ;  with 
Miss  Havisham,  the  broken-hearted  woman,  existing 
with  the  one  idea  of  training  her  adopted  child  ;  with 
Estella,  a  beautiful  conception  (Pip's  love  for  her,  and 
his  grief  when  he  finds  her  married  to  Bentley 
Drummle,  the  man  without  a  heart  to  break,  are 
masterpieces  of  description) ;  with  Pumblechook,  that 
frightful  impostor.  Perhaps  the  most  entertaining 
portions  are  those  connected  v/ith  Wemmick,  the 
lawyer's  clerk,  his  "  Castle "  at  Walworth,  and  his 
peculiar  ideas  of  portable  property,  his  post-office 
mouth,  and  Mr.  Jaggers,  the  criminal  lawyer  of  Little 
Britain,  his  employer. 

We  may  here  mention  that  "  Satis  House,"  the 
residence  of  Miss  Havisham,  lies  a  little  to  the  west 
of  Boley  Hill,  near  Rochester,  and  derived  its  pecu- 


i860.]  "  THE   UNCOMMERCIAL    7RA  VELLER."  265 

liar  name  from  the  fact  of  Richard  Watts  (founder 
of  the  Poor  Travellers'  House  previously  referred 
to)  entertaining  Queen  Elizabeth  in  it — when  on  her 
journey  round  the  coasts  of  Sussex  and  Kent — in 
1573.  Here  she  stayed  some  days,  and  on  her 
leaving,  Watts  apologized  for  the  smallness  of  the 
house  for  so  great  a  Queen ;  she  merely  replied 
"  Satis,''  signifying  she  was  well  content  with  her 
accommodation. 


^'^Wfi 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

MR.  DICKENS  AND  THE  ELECTORS  OF  FINSBURY. — 
"  TOM  tiddler's  GROUND." — "  SOMEBODY'S 
LUGGAGE." — "  MRS.   LIRRIPER'S  LODGINGS." 

|N  November  of  this  year,  some  admirers  in 
Finsbury  formed  the  idea  that  Mr.  Dickens 
would  have  no  objections  to  represent  that 
borough  in  Parliament,  and  his  name  was  brought 
prominently  forward  as  a  candidate.  He  was  then 
at  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  and  on  the  2 1st  of  No- 
vember he  wrote  to  the  Daily  News : — "  Being 
here  for  a  day  or  two,  I  have  observed,  in  your 
paper  of  yesterday,  an  account  of  a  meeting  of 
Finsbury  electors,  in  which  it  was  discussed  whether 
I  should  be  invited  to  become  a  candidate  for  the 
borough.*  It  may  save  some  trouble  if  you  will 
kindly  confirm  a  sensible  gentleman,  who  doubted 
at  that  meeting  whether  I  was  quite  the  sort  of 
man  for  Finsbuiy.  I  am  not  at  all  the  sort  of 
man,  for  I  believe  nothing  would  induce  me  to  offer 
myself  as  a  Parliamentary  representative  of  that 
place,  or  any  other  under  the  sun." 

*  Consequent  on  the  death  of  Mr.  Thomas  S.  Duncombe — the 
"Tom  Duncombe  "  o^  Finsbury — the  late  representative. 


I 


i86i.]  "  TOM  TIDDLER'S  GROUND."  267 

In  the  early  part  of  this  winter  he  resumed  his 
readings  in  the  provinces,  and  met  with  considerable 
success,  especially  in  Lancashire,  where  there  was 
great  enthusiasm  shown  to  see  and  hear  the  author 
of  "  Pickwick,"  and  latterly  of  "  Hard  Times,"  which 
had  found  thousands  of  readers  in  the  cotton  districts. 

The  Christmas  number  for  this  year,  "  Tom 
Tiddler's  Ground,"  excited  considerable  curiosity, 
and  one  of  the  stories  became  a  subject  of  general 
discussion — that  of  "  Mr.  Mopes,"  the  hermit.  "  Pick- 
ing up  Soot  and  Cinders "  gives  the  history  and 
description  of  the  hermit,  a  dirty,  lazy,  slothful  fellow, 
dressed  up  in  a  blanket  fastened  by  a  skewer,  and 
revelling  in  soot  and  grease.  There  is  one  story  in 
the  number,  called  "  Picking  up  Terrible  Company," 
of  the  most  intense  sensational  character.  It  is  told 
by  Frangois  Thierry,  a  French  convict,  under  the 
head  of  "  Picking  up  a  Pocket-book." 

The  "  hermit  "  was  a  living  reality — a  person  of 
property  and  education,  who,  to  mortify  his  friends, 
we  believe,  withdrew  from  the  world,  and  lived  in 
rags  and  filth.  Soon  after  a  letter,  signed  "  A 
County  Down  Lady,"  was  inserted  in  the  Down- 
Patrick  Recorder,  in  which  the  writer  related  the 
particulars  of  a  visit  she  had  paid  to  "  Mr.  IMopes," 
the  hermit,  and  concluded  by  saying :  "  Charles 
Dickens  offended  him  terribly.  He  pretended  he 
was  a  Highlander,  and  Mr.  Lucas  at  once  began  to 
question  him  about  the  country,  and  then  spoke  to 
him  in  Gaelic,  which  he  couldn't  reply  to.    Mr.  Lucas 


268  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS  [1862. 

said  to  him,  '  Sir,  you  are  an  impostor ;  you  are  no 
gentleman.'  " 

A  copy  of  the  newspaper  was  at  once  for- 
warded to  Mr.  Dickens  by  a  friend,  who  asked  if 
there  was  any  truth  in  the  statement.  The  reply 
was : — "  As  you  sent  me  the  paper  with  that  very 
cool  account  of  myself  in  it,  perhaps  you  want  to 
know  whether  or  not  it  is  true.  There  is  not  a 
syllable  of  truth  in  it.  I  have  never  seen  the  person 
in  question  but  once  in  my  life,  and  then  I  was 
accompanied  by  Lord  Orford,  Mr.  Arthur  Helps, 
the  clerk  of  the  privy  council,  my  eldest  daughter, 
and  my  sister-in-law,  all  of  whom  know  perfectly 
well  that  nothing  of  the  sort  passed.  It  is  a  sheer 
invention  of  the  wildest  kind."*  Lucas,  the  papers 
reported,  was  terribly  cut  up  by  the  inclement  winter 
of  1^66-^,  and  was  hardly  expected  to  get  over  it. 

In  March,  1862,  Dickens  commenced  a  new  series 
of  readings  at  St.  James's  Hall,  which  proved  a 
very  advantageous  speculation.  He  officiated  as 
Chairman  at  the  Annual  Festival  of  the  Dramatic 
Equestrian  and  Musical  Association,  on  the  5th  of 
the  same  month,  at  Willis's  Rooms,  and  delivered  an 
eloquent  address  ;  he  fulfilled  the  same  duty  at  the 
annual  dinner  of  the  Artists'  General  Benevolent 
Fund,  at  the  Freemasons'  Tavern,  on  the  29th  of 
this  month,  and  the  result  was  a  large  accession 
to    its    treasury.       Acting   in    the    same    capacity 

*  London,  27th  March,  1862. 


i862,]  "  TOM  TIDDLERS  GROUND."  269 

at  the  Annual  Festival  of  the  Newsvendors'  and 
Provident  Institution,  at  the  last-named  tavern,  on 
the  20th  May  following,  in  proposing  the  toast 
of  the  evening,  "  Prosperity  to  the  Newsvendors' 
Benevolent  Institution,"  *  he  delivered  a  very  amusing 
speech  on  "  The  Newsman's  Calling."  In  the  course 
of  his  remarks  he  "  started  off  with  the  newsman  on 
a  fine  May  morning,  to  take  a  view  of  the  wonder- 
ful broad-sheets  which  every  day  he  scatters  broad- 
cast over  the  country.  Well,  the  first  thing  that 
occurs  to  me,  following  the  newsman,  is,  that  every 
day  we  are  born,  that  every  day  we  are  married — 
some  of  us — and  that  every  day  we  are  dead  ;  con- 
sequently, the  first  thing  the  newsvendor's  column 
informs  me  is,  that  Atkins  has  been  born,  that 
Catkins  has  been  married,  and  that  Datkins  is  dead. 
But  the  most  remarkable  thing  I  immediately  dis- 
cover in  the  next  column  is,  that  Atkins  has  grown 
to  be  seventeen  years  old,  and  that  he  has  run  away, 
for  at  last  my  eye  lights  on  the  fact  that  William  A., 
who  is  seventeen  years  old,  is  adjured  immediately  to 
return  to  his  disconsolate  parents,  and  everything  will 
be  arranged  to  the  satisfaction  of  every  one.  I  am 
afraid  he  will  never  return,  simply  because,  if  he  had 
meant  to  come  back,  he  would  never  have  gone  away. 
Immediately  below,  I  find  a  mysterious  character  in 
such  a  mysterious  difficulty,  that  it  is  only  to  be 
expressed  by  several   disjointed   letters,   by  several 

*  He  was  elected  President  of  the  Institution  in  May,  1854. 


270  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1862 

figures,  and  several  stars ;  and  then  I  find  the  expla- 
nation in  the  intimation  that  the  writer  has  given 
his  property  over  to  his  uncle,  and  that  the  elephant 

is  on  the  wing I   learn,  to   my   intense 

gratification,  that  I  need  never  grow  old,  that  I  may 
always  preserve  the  juvenile  bloom  of  my  complexion ; 
that  if  ever  I  turn  ill  it  is  entirely  my  own  fault ; 
that  if  I  have  any  complaint,  and  want  brown 
cod-liver  oil  or  Turkish  baths,  I  am  told  where  to  get 
them  ;  and  that  if  I  want  an  income  oi  £J  z.  week,  I 
may  have  it  by  sending  half-a-crown  in  postage- 
stamps.  Then  I  look  to  the  police  intelligence,  and 
I  can  discover  that  I  may  bite  off  a  human  living  nose 
cheaply ;  but  if  I  take  off  the  dead  nose  of  a  pig 
or  a  calf  from  a  shop-window,  it  will  cost  me  ex- 
ceedingly dear.  I  also  find  that  if  I  allow  myself  to 
be  betrayed  into  the  folly  of  killing  an  inoffensive 
tradesman  on  his  own  doorstep,  that  little  incident 
will  not  affect  the  testimonials  to  my  character,  but 
that  I  shall  be  described  as  a  most  amiable  young 
man,  and,  as  above  all  things,  remarkable  for  the 
singular  inoffensiveness  of  my  character  and  dis- 
position." 

But  the  entire  speech  is  much  too  long  for  our  space. 

We  have  now  reached  another  winter — that  of 
1862 — and  this  time  our  novelist  devoted  his  Christ- 
mas number,  "  Somebody's  Luggage,"  to  that  pecu- 
liar class  of  individuals  known  as  ''Waiters."  Mr. 
Arthur  Locker  truly  says  of  it : — "  We  rise  from  the 
little  story  with  kindlier  feelings  towards  the  whole 


1S63.J  '*  SOMEBODY S  LUGGAGE."  871 

race  of  waiters  ;  we  know  more  of  their  struggles  and 
trials,  and  so  we  sympathise  with  them  more."  Most 
of  our  readers  will  remember  the  description  of 
Christopher,  the  head  waiter,  with  his  amusing 
revelations  of  his  profession — the  mysterious  luggage 
left  in  Room  24  B,  with  a  lien  on  it  for  £2  12s.  6d.y  his 
purchasing  the  whole  of  it,  and  finding  all  the  articles 
crammed  full  of  MSS. — his  subsequently  selling  them, 
and,  on  the  arrival  of  the  proofs,  his  horror  at  the 
appearance  of  the  owner  —  his  placing  them  before 
him,  and  the  joy  of  the  unknown  at  finding  his 
stories  in  print,  and  sitting  down,  with  several  new 
pens  and  all  the  inkstands  well  filled,  to  correct,  in 
a  high  state  of  excitement,  and  being  discovered  in 
the  morning,  himself  and  the  proofs,  so  smeared  with 
ink,  that  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  have  said 
which  was  him,  and  which  was  them,  and  which  was 
blots — is  sufficient  to  keep  the  reader  in  one  con- 
tinual roar  of  laughter. 

In  the  preceding  year  several  imitation  Christmas 
numbers  had  appeared,  but  this  season  they  swarmed. 
The  newspapers  and  the  hoardings  were  filled  with 
advertisements  of  them,  and  Mr.  Dickens  expressed 
great  annoyance  at  the  manner  in  which  he  was 
being  copied. 

In  the  March  following  (1863),  he  presided  at  the 
eighteenth  anniversary  of  the  Royal  General  Theatrical 
Fund,  and  made  a  most  excellent  speech. 

About  this  time  Mr.  Charles  Reade's  "  Very  Hard 
Cash"   was  appearing  in  the  pages  of  All  the  Year 


272  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1863. 

Round,  and  that  gentleman  having  attacked  with 
virulence  the  Commissioners  in  Lunacy,  Dickens,  in  a 
foot-note  to  Chapter  xlvi,  wrote, — 

"  The  Conductor  of  this  Journal  desires  to  take  this 
opportunity  of  expressing  his  personal  belief  that  no 
public  servants  do  their  duty  with  greater  ability, 
humanity,  and  independence,  than  the  Commissioners 
in  Lunacy." 

When  the  story  was  concluded,  to  further  show 
that  the  sentiments  expressed  in  it  were  not  those  of 
Mr.  Dickens — or  that  at  least  he  had  not  controlled 
them — he  wrote, 

"The  statements  and  opinions  of  this  Journal 
generally  are,  of  course,  to  be  received  as  the 
statements  and  opinions  of  its  Conductor.  But  this 
is  not  so  in  the  case  of  a  work  of  fiction  first  pub- 
lished in  these  pages  as  a  serial  story,  with  the  name 
of  an  eminent  writer  attached  to  it.  When  one  of 
my  literary  brothers  does  me  the  honour  to  under- 
take such  a  task,  I  hold  that  he  executes  it  on  his 
own  personal  responsibility,  and  for  the  sustainment 
of  his  own  reputation  ;  and  I  do  not  consider  myself 
at  liberty  to  exercise  that  control  over  his  text  which 
I  claim  as  to  other  contributions. 

''Charles  Dickens." 

He  was  justified  in  making  this  statement,  as  Mr. 
Forster,  an  old  and  true  friend — and  who  has  since 
been  appointed  by  Mr.  Dickens  his  principal  executor 
— is  one  of  the  Commissioners. 


1863.]  "^1/^5.  LIRRIPER'S  LODGINGS."  273 

Another  Christmas  has  come  round — the  Christmas 
of  1863.  " Mrs.  Lirriper's  Lodgings"  was  the  title 
of  the  number  for  this  season,  and  it  created  an 
immense  furore.  The  quaint  manners  and  ideas 
of  Mrs.  Lirriper,  lodging-house  keeper,  of  8r, 
Norfolk  Street,  Strand — her  troubles  with  the 
domestics,  willing  Sophy,  Mary  Anne — the  fiery 
Carolina  fighting  with  the  lodgers,  and  being  sent 
off  to  prison — the  odious  Miss  Wozenham  an  opposi- 
tion lodging-house  keeper — the  adoption  of  poor  little 
Jemmy,  under  the  joint  guardianship  of  her  eccen- 
tric but  good-hearted  lodger.  Major  Jackman,  his 
education  at  home,  and  then  his  being  sent  ofif  to  a 
boarding-school,  are  inimitably  sketched. 

Thackeray  died  on  Christmas  Eve,  1863.  I^  the 
February  number  of  the  CGrnhill  Magazine,  for  the 
ensuing  year,  Dickens  wrote  a  most  beautiful  and 
touching  ^'In  Memoriam ;"  which  shows  in  what 
estimation  he  was  held  by  his  surviving  friend, — 

"  We  had  our  differences  of  opinion.  I  thought  that 
he  too  much  feigned  a  want  of  earnestness,  and  that  he 
made  a  pretence  of  undervaluing  his  art,  which  was 
not  good  for  the  art  that  he  held  in  trust.  But,  when 
we  fell  upon  these  topics,  it  was  never  very  gravely, 
and  I  have  a  lively  image  of  him  in  my  mind,  twist- 
ing both  his  hands  in  his  hair,  and  stamping  about, 
laughing,  to  make  an  end  of  the  discussion  When 
we  were  associated  in  remembrance  of  the  late  Mr. 
Douglas  Jerrold,  he  delivered  a  public  lecture  in 
London,  in  the  course  of  which  he  read  his  very  best 

S 


274  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1863. 

contribution  to  P?mch,  describing  the  grown-up  cares 
of  a  poor  family  of  young  children.  No  one  hearing 
him  could  have  doubted  his  natural  gentleness,  or  his 
thoroughly  unaffected  manly  sympathy  with  the  weak 
and  lowly.  He  read  the  paper  most  pathetically, 
and  Avith  a  simplicity  of  tenderness  that  certainly 
moved  one  of  his  audience  to  tears.  This  was 
presently  after  his  standing  for  Oxford,  from  Avhich 
place  he  had  dispatched  his  agent  to  me,  with  a 
droll  note  (to  which  he  afterwards  added  a  verbal 
postscript),  urging  me  to  "  come  down  and  make  a 
speech,  and  tell  them  who  he  was,  for  he  doubted 
whether  more  than  two  of  the  electors  had  ever 
heard  of  him,*  and  he  thought  there  might  be  as 
many  as  six  or  eight  who  had  heard  of  me."  He 
introduced  the  lecture  just  mentioned  with  a  reference 

*  This  anecdote  from  "  Thackeray ;  the  Humourist  and  the 
Man  of  Letters,"  by  Theodore  Taylor,  may  be  fittingly 
appended : — 

"  Pray,  what  can  I  do  to  serve  you,  sir  ?"  inquired  the  vice- 
chancellor. — *^  My  name  is  Thackeray." — "  So  I  see  by  this 
card." — "  I  seek  permission  to  lecture  within  the  precincts." — 
"Ah!  you  are  a  lecturer;  what  subjects  do  you  undertake, 
religious  or  political?'' — "Neither;  I  am  a  literary  man." — 
"  Have  you  v/ritten  anything?" — "Yes;  lam  the  author  of 
*  Vanity  Fair.' " — "  I  presume  a  Dissenter;  has  that  anything 
to  do  with  John  Bunyan's  book?" — "Not  exactly;  I  have  also 
written  *  Pendennis.'" — "Never  heard  of  these  works:  but  no 
doubt  they  are  proper  books." — "I  have  also  contributed  to 
Punchr — "  Punch !  I  have  heard  of  that ;  is  it  not  a  ribald 
publication  ? " 


1863.]  "PINCHER."  275 

to  his  late  electioneering  failure,  which  was  full  of 
good  sense,  good  spirits,  and  good  humour.  He  had 
a  particular  delight  in  boys,  and  an  excellent  way 
with  them.  I  remember  his  once  asking  me,  with  a 
fantastic  gravity,  when  he  had  been  to  Eton,  where 
my  eldest  son  then  was,  whether  I  felt  as  he  did  in 
regard  of  never  seeing  a  boy  without  wanting 
instantly  to  give  him  a  sovereign  "i  I  thought  of 
this  when  I  looked  dovv'n  into  his  grave,  after  he  was 
laid  there,  for  I  looked  down  into  it  over  the  shoulder 
of  a  boy  to  whom  he  had  been  kind." 

Frequently,  in  the  numbers  oi Household  Words j  and 
in  All  the  Year  Round,  has  Mr.  Dickens  given  us  an 
anecdote,  a  biographical  scrap  concerning  himself,  or 
an  article  which  could  only  be  considered  as  "per- 
sonal ;"  and  no  future  biographer  of  the  great  man 
can  tell  the  complete  story  of  his  life  without  having 
recourse  to  the  pages  of  these  magazines. 

The  anecdotes  Ave  have  already  given  of  Dickens's 
ravens  show  his  fondness  for  animals.  Mr.  Collam, 
Secretary  of  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty 
to  Animals,  now  kindly  directs  our  attention  to  the 
great  novelist's  admirable  paper  in  All  the  Year 
Roitnd,^  entitled  "  Pincher  Astray  :  an  account  of 
the  Home  for  Lost  and  Starving  Dogs,"  at  Holloway. 
The  paper  records  the  adventures  of  a  favourite  dog, 
I'incher : — 

"  He  was  not  handsome — at  least,  in  the  common 

•  January  30,  1864. 

S  2 


276  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1863. 

acceptation  of  the  term He  was  a  morose 

beast,  and  of  most  uncertain  temper He 

was  the  terror  of  the  tradespeople  :  he  loathed  the 
butcher  ;  he  had  a  deadly  hatred  for  the  fishmonger's 
boy ;  and,  when  I  complained  to  the  post-office  of 
the  non-receipt  in  due  course  of  a  letter  from  my 
aunt's  legal  adviser,  advising  m^e  to  repair  at  once  to 
the  old  lady's  death-bed  (owing  to  which  non-receipt 
I  was  cut  out  of  my  aunt's  will),  I  was  answered  that 
*  the  savage  character  of  my  dog — a  circumstance 
Avith  which  the  department  could  not  interfere — 
prevented  the  letter-carrier  from  the  due  performance 
of  his  functions  after  nightfall'  Still  I  loved  Pincher 
— still  I  love  him !  What  though  my  trousers-ends 
were  frayed  into  hanging  strips  by  his  teeth  ;  what 
though  my  slippers  are  a  mass  of  chewed  pulp  ; 
what  though  he  has  tov/zled  all  the  corners  of  the 
manuscript  of  my  work  on  Logarithms — shall  I 
reproach  him  now  that  he  is  lost  to  me  ?     Never !" 

Pincher  strayed  away — was  lost.  Application  w^as 
made  at  the  "  Home,"  which  afforded  Mr.  Dickens  an 
opportunity  to  describe  that  institution,  but  he  was 
not  there.  After  some  days  he  returned  "with  a 
ruffled  coat,  a  torn  ear,  a  fierceness  of  eye  which 
bespoke  recent  trouble.  I  afterwards  learned  that  he 
had  been  a  principal  In  a  combat  held  in  the  adjoining 
parish,  where  he  acquitted  himself  with  a  certain 
amount  of  honour,  and  was  pinning  his  adversary, 
when  a  rustic  person  from  a  farm  broke  in  upon  the 
ring,  and  kicked  both  the  combatants  out  of  it.    This 


1864.]  "PINCHERr  277 

ignominy  was  more  than  Pincher  could  bear ;  he 
flung  himself  upon  the  rustic's  leg,  and  brought  him 
to  the  ground :  then  fled,  and  remained  hidden  in  a 
wood  until  hunger  compelled  him  to  come  home. 
We  have  interchanged  no  communication  since,  but 
regard  each  other  with  sulky  dignity.  I  perceive 
that  he  intends  to  remain  obdurate  until  I  make  the 
first  advances." 

Early  in  the  new  year  Mr.  Dickens  received  intelli- 
gence of  the  death  of  his  son,  Walter  Landor  Dickens, 
in  the  Officers'  Hospital  at  Calcutta.  He  was  a  lieu- 
tenant of  the  26th  Native  Infantry  Regiment,  and 
had  been  doing  duty  with  the  42nd  Highlanders. 
His  decease  occurred  on  the  last  day  of  the  old 
year. 

During  this  spring  he  was  requested  by  the  Work- 
ing Men's  Shakspeare  Memorial  Committee  to  take 
the  chief  direction  in  planting  the  "  Shakspeare  Oak  " 
on  Primrose  Hill.  Mr.  F.  G.  Tomlins,  a  well-known 
litterateur,  and  at  one  time  editor  of  the  Leader 
newspaper,  wrote  to  him,  stating  the  working  men's 
wishes,  and  Mr.  Dickens  at  once  replied  : — "  I  am 
truly  honoured  by  the  feeling  of  the  working  men 
towards  me,  as  expressed  in  your  note,  and  would 
far  rather  take  part  in  their  interesting  proceedings 
than  in  any  other  ceremonial  held  on  that  day. 

"But  I  am  not  free.  The  request,  unfortunately, 
comes  too  late.     I  have  declined  several   public  in- 

*  Wednesday,  12th  April,  1864. 


278  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1864. 

vitations  on  the  pround  that  I  had  resolved  to  take 
part  in  none,  and  had  bound  myself  to  a  few  personal 
friends  for  a  quiet,  private  remembrance  of  the 
occasion.  From  this  conclusion  I  cannot  now  de- 
part. Do  me  the  kindness  to  assure  the  delegates, 
with  whom  you  are  in  communication,  of  my  cordial 
sympathy  and  respect." 


^^^^^^I^^ 


"tKiii^O^ 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


"OUR  MUTUAL  FRIEND." — "DOCTOR  MARIGOLD'S 
PRESCRIPTIONS." — "  MUGBY  JUNCTION." 

I C KENS  was  a  guest  at  the  Anniversary- 
Banquet  at  the  Royal  Academy,  on  ist 
May,  1864;  and  Mr.  John  Forster,  respond- 
ing to  the  toast,  "The  Interests  of  Literature,"  grace- 
fully remarked  : — "  In  fiction,  I  see  not  only  the 
great  master  of  character  and  humour  (Mr.  Dickens) 
who  has  held  sway  over  both  now  for  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  and  this  very  day  starts  after 
new  laurels  with  as  much  vigour  and  freshness  as 
when  he  first  began  the  race." 

"Our  Mutual  Friend  "  was  the  work  alluded  to  by 
Mr.  Forster,  and  Number  I.  was  published  on  the  ist 
of  May,  by  Messrs.  Chapman  and  Hall,  with  illustra- 
tions by  Mr.  Marcus  Stone. 

The  plot  is  most  ingeniously  constructed,  and 
each  character  an  elaborate  and  highly  executed 
portrait,  although,  perhaps,  occasionally  verging  on 
caricature. 

Miss  Jenny  Wren,  the  entertaining  Doll's  dress- 
maker ;  her  drunken  father,  "  Fascination  "  Fledgeby ; 
Riah,  the  patient  and  kind-hearted  Jew  ;  Silas  Wegg, 


28o  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1864. 

the  wooden-legged  individual,  a  parasite  and  selfish 
impostor,  "  literary  man  "  to  Boffin,  employed  at  the 
rate  of  twopence-halfpenny  an  hour  to  read  and 
expound  the  "  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Rooshlan  Em- 
pire," otherwise  "  Roman  Empire  ; "  John  Harman  ; 
Lizzie  Hexam ;  Venus,  the  anatomical  artist ;  Bradley 
Headstone  ;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Boffin ;  and  Bella  Wilfer, 
daughter  of  the  Cherub  ;  are  the  best-remembered 
characters  in  the  book.  The  story  is  somewhat  im- 
probable, and  contains  many  scenes  of  horror  and 
crime.  Taken  as  a  specimen  of  literary  workman- 
ship, it  is  his  best  production  since  "  David  Copper- 
field,"  but  it  is  not  popular  with  readers. 

Mr.  Crabb  Robinson  has  preserved  in  his  Diary 
some  playful  lines  by  Southey  ;  but  his  editor  has 
omitted  to  add  a  circumstance  which  would  have 
increased  their  interest.  They  were  written  in  the 
album  of  Mrs.  S.  C.  Hall,  and  the  opposite  page 
contained  the  autographs  of  Joseph  Bonaparte  and 
Daniel  O'Connell,  a  circumstance  which  suggested 
what  the  Laureate  wrote  : — 

"  Birds  of  a  feather  flock  together. 
But  vide  the  opposite  page  ; 
Ana  thence  you  may  gather  I'm  not  of  a  feather 
With  some  of  the  birds  in  this  cage." 

Robert  Southey,  zmd  October,  1836. 

Some  years  afterwards,  Charles  Dickens,  good- 
humouredly  referring  to  Southey's  change  of  opinion, 
wrote  in  the  album,  immediately  under  Southey's 
lines,  the  following  : — 


1S64.]  "  OUR  MUTUAL   FRIEND.'  281 

**  Now,  if  I  don't  make 

The  completcst  mistake 
That  ever  put  man  in  a  rage. 

This  bird  of  two  weathers 

Has  moulted  his  feathers. 
And  left  them  in  some  other  cage." — Boz. 

When  these  last  hnes  first  appeared  in  the  Art  Joiir- 
iml,  a  friend  of  Southey's,  resenting  Boz's  remark, 
retaliated  by  "  good-humouredly  referring "  to  the 
change  of  style  between  "  Pickwick "  and  *'  Our 
Mutual  Friend,"  and  wrote  in  the  margin  of  the 
periodical — 

"Put  his  Jint  work  and  last  work  together. 
And  learn  from  the  groans  of  all  men. 
That  if  he 's  not  alter'd  his  feather. 
He  's  certainly  alter'd  his  pen." 

**  Our  Mutual  Friend  "  was  dramatized  as  "  The 
Golden  Dustman,"  and  was  acted  on  June  1 6th,  1866, 
with  great  ability,  at  the  Sadler's  Wells,  and  after- 
wards at  Astley's  and  the  Britannia  Theatres. 

Dickens,  on  the  nth  of  May,  1864,  presided  at  the 
Adelphi  Theatre,  at  a  public  meeting  for  the  purpose 
of  founding  the  Shakspeare  Foundation  Schools,  in 
connection  with  the  Royal  Dramatic  College.  On 
this  occasion  he  made — as  usual — an  admirable 
speech,  and  a  large  sum  of  money  was  collected. 

During  the  summer  of  this  year,  and  whilst  on  a 
trip  to  Paris,  Mr.  Dickens  met  with  a  sunstroke, 
which  greatly  alarmed  his  friends.     For  many  hours 


283  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1364-65. 

he  was  in  a  state  of  complete  insensibility,  but  at 
length  recovered,  and  in  due  course  returned  home. 

The  interest  taken  in  "Mrs.  Lirriper  and  her 
Lodgings,"  the  preceding  Christmas,  induced  Dickens 
to  give  a  sequel  to  the  old  lady's  experiences. 
Accordingly,  in  the  Christmas  of  1 864,  v/e  had  ''  Mrs. 
Lirriper's Legacy."  This  narrated  the  death,  in  France, 
of  Mr.  Edson,  the  father  of  Jemmy ;  the  journey  of 
Mrs.  Lirriper,  the  Major,  and  Master  Jem,  to  the 
deathbed  of  the  repentant  man  ;  their  adventures 
going  and  returning ;  the  revelations  of  the  extra- 
ordinary conduct  of  her  brother-in-law,  Doctor 
Joshua  Lirriper ;  the  vagaries  of  Mr.  Buffle,  the 
collector  of  the  assessed  taxes ;  her  meritorious 
conduct  towards  him  and  his  family  on  the  night 
of  the  fire,  and  also,  when  Miss  Wozenham  was  in 
danger  of  being  sold  up,  lending  her  money  to  pay 
the  execution  out,  and  becoming  intimate  friends  ; 
— are  all  very  charmingly  and  amusingly  described. 

A  little  matter  occurred  in  the  following  March, 
to  which  we  may  just  allude  in  passing.  Mr. 
Dickens  had  nominated,  and  Mr.  Wilkie  Collins 
seconded,  a  very  intimate  friend  as  a  member  of 
the  Garrick  Club,  to  which  they  both  belonged.  The 
committee,  for  some  unaccountable  reason,  black- 
balled the  gentleman  ;  Dickens  and  Collins,  disgusted 
at  this  treatment,  resigned  their  membership,  and  the 
affair  for  the  moment  created  some  considerable  stir 
in  the  literary  world. 

On  the  9th  May  he  presided  at  the  annual  festival 


1865.]  THE  STAPLEHURST  ACCIDENT.  233 

of  the  Newsvendors'  Benevolent  and  Provident  Asso- 
ciation, and  delivered  another  admirable  speech. 

Ten  days  afterwards,  on  the  20th  of  the  same 
month,  he  fulfilled  a  similar  post  at  the  second  anni- 
versary of  the  Newspaper  Press  Fund  (being  a  vice- 
president  of  that  useful  association).  His  speech  was 
that  well  known  one  in  which  he  gave  us  his  early 
reporting  experiences.  In  defending  the  profession 
he  said  : — ''  I  would  venture  to  remind  you,  if  I 
delicately  may,  in  the  august  presence  of  members 
of  Parliament,  how  much  we,  the  public,  ovv^e  to  the 
reporters,  if  it  were  only  for  their  skill  in  the  two 
great  sciences  of  condensation  and  rejection.  Con- 
ceive what  our  sufferings  under  an  Imperial  Parlia- 
ment, however  popularly  constituted,  under  however 
glorious  a  constitution,  would  be,  if  the  reporters 
could  not  skip  ! "  And  it  was  on  this  occasion  that 
he  exclaimed,  in  the  midst  of  the  warmest  applause, 
"  I  am  not  here  advocating  the  case  of  a  mere 
ordinary  client  of  whom  I  have  little  or  no  know- 
ledge. I  hold  a  brief  to-night  for  my  brothers  ! " 
Since  his  death  this  passage  has  been  often  quoted  in 
proof  of  the  love  he  bore  to  the  literary  profession 
and  all  connected  with  it. 

We  come  now  to  a  very  sad  occurrence,  from 
the  effects  of  which  Mr.  Dickens  never  entirely 
recovered.  On  the  9th  of  June  he  was  unfortunate 
enough  to  be  a  passenger  in  the  train  that  met  with 
the  lamentable  accident  at  Staplehurst,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  plate-layer's  negligence.     The  carriage 


284  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1865. 

in  which  he  was  sitting  toppled  over  the  edge  of  the 
precipice,  and  hung  suspended  sufficiently  long  to 
allow  him  to  escape  by  scrambling  out  of  the 
window,  uninjured  in  body,  and  without  even  a 
bruise,  but  his  nerves  receiving  a  shock  from  which 
he  often  afterwards  complained.  The  Newsvendors* 
Benevolent  and  Provident  Institution,  at  a  special 
meeting,  a  few  days  after,  passed  a  resolution  con- 
gratulating him  on  his  miraculous  and  providential 
escape,  and  concluded  by  expressing  "their  sincere 
hope  that  a  life  so  publicly  and  privately  valuable 
may  be  spared  for  many,  many  years,  further  to 
adorn  English  literature  with  imperishable  works, 
and  to  grace  with  apt  eloquence,  and  promote  by 
strenuous  practical  example  and  advocacy,  efforts 
made  to  ameliorate  distress  and  provide  for  the  sad 
contingencies  of  sickness  and  old  age." 

Dickens  always  considered  the  regular  contributors 
to  HoiiseJwld  Words  and  to  All  the  Year  Round  as 
connected  with  him  in  a  manner  much  more  closely 
than  as  ordinary  professional  or  purely  business 
connections.  "  My  brothers "  was  his  favourite 
phrase  ;  and  when  Miss  Adelaide  Anne  Procter  died 
he  wrote  for  the  beautiful  "  Legends  and  Lyrics,"* 
which  her  family  published  as  an  Li  Memoriam 
volume,  a  most  touching  preface.  This  passage 
explains  how  he  came  to  know  the  daughter  of 
"  Barry  Cornwall :" — 

*  It  was  published  by  Messrs.  Bell  and  Daldy  as  a  Christmas 
gift-book. 


1 865-]  "MISS  BERWICK."  285 

"In  the  spring  of  the  year  1853,  I  observed,  as 
Conductor  of  the  weekly  journal  Household  Words, 
a  short  poem  among  the  proffered  contributions,  very 
different,  as  I  thought,  from  the  shoal  of  verses 
perpetually  passing  through  the  office  of  such  a 
periodical,  and  possessing  much  more  merit.  Its 
authoress  was  quite  unknown  to  me.  She  was  one 
Miss  Mary  Berwick,  whom  I  had  never  heard  of ; 
and  she  was  to  be  addressed  by  letter,  if  addressed 
at  all,  at  a  circulating  library  in  the  western  district 
of  London.  Through  this  channel.  Miss  Berwick 
was  informed  that  her  poem  was  accepted,  and  was 
invited  to  send  another.  She  complied,  and  became 
a  regular  and  frequent  contributor.  Many  letters 
passed  between  the  journal  and  Miss  Berwick,  but 
Miss  Berwick  herself  was  never  seen.  How  we  came 
gradually  to  establish,  at  the  office  of  Household 
Words,  that  we  knew  all  about  Miss  Berwick,  I  have 
never  discovered.  But  we  settled,  somehow,  to  our 
complete  satisfaction,  that  she  was  governess  In  a 
family;  that  she  went  to  Italy  in  that  capacity,  and 
returned  ;  and  that  she  had  long  been  In  the  same 
family.  We  really  knew  nothing  whatever  of  her, 
except  that  she  was  remarkably  business-like, 
punctual,  self-reliant,  and  reliable  :  so  I  suppose  we 
insensibly  invented  the  rest.  For  myself,  my  mother 
was  not  a  more  real  personage  to  me  than  Miss 
Berwick  the  governess  became.  This  went  on  until 
December,   1854,  when   the  Christmas  Number,  en- 


2S6  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1865. 

titled  '  The  Seven  Poor  Travellers/  was  sent  to  press. 
Happening  to  be  going  to  dine  that  day  with  an  old 
and  dear  friend,  distinguished  in  literature  as  Barry 
Cornwall,  I  took  with  me  an  early  proof  of  that 
number,  and  remarked,  as  I  laid  it  on  the  drawing- 
room  table,  that  it  contained  a  very  pretty  poem, 
written  by  a  certain  Miss  Berwick.  Next  day  brought 
me  the  disclosure  that  I  had  so  spoken  of  the  poem  to 
the  mother  of  its  ^vriter,  in  its  writer's  presence  ;  that 
I  had  no  such  correspondent  in  existence  as  Miss 
Berwick ;  that  the  name  had  been  assumed  by  Barry 
Cornwall's  eldest  daughter,  Miss  Adelaide  Anne 
Procter." 

And,  after  describing  her  cheerfulness,  her  modesty, 
her  conviction  that  life  "  must  not  be  dreamed  away," 
her  unceasing  efforts  to  do  good,  he  thus  describes 
the  final  ending.  She  had  then  lain  an  invalid  upon 
her  bed  through  fifteen  months: — "In  all  that  time, 
her  old  cheerfulness  never  quitted  her.  In  all  that 
time,  not  an  impatient  or  querulous  minute  can  be 
remembered.  At  length,  at  midnight  on  the  2nd  of 
February,  1864,  she  turned  down  a  leaf  of  a  little 
book  she  was  reading,  and  shut  it  up.  The  minister- 
ing hand  that  had  copied  the  verses  into  the  tiny 
album,  was  soon  around  her  neck,  and  she  quietly 
asked,  as  the  clock  was  on  the  stroke  of  One  :  '  Do 
you  think  I  am  dying,  mamma  ? ' — '  I  think  you  are 
very,  very  ill  to-night,  my  dear.' — '  Send  for  my 
sister.     My  feet  are   so  cold.     Lift  me   up ! '     Her 


i86s.]  ''DR.   MARIGOLD'S  PRESCRIPTIONS."  287 

sister  entering  as  they  raised  her,  she  said  :  '  It  has 
come  at  last ! '  And  with  a  bright  and  happy  smile, 
looked  upward,  and  departed." 

We  are  now  approaching  the  last  of  those  Christ- 
mas numbers  which  for  so  many  years  have  formed  a 
friendly  tie  between  author  and  reader  at  the  festive 
season.  "  Doctor  Marigold's  Prescriptions  "  was  the 
number  for  Christmas,  1865.  It  gave  the  history  of 
an  itinerant  "  Cheap  Jack,"  named  "  Doctor,"  in  re- 
membrance of  a  kind-hearted  medical  man  who 
officiated  at  his  birth,  and  who  would  only  accept  a 
tea-tray  in  payment  for  his  services.  The  "Doctor's" 
peculiar  talents  in  his  line  of  business,  and  the  happy 
contrast  to  the  political  Cheap  Jack,  making  rash 
promises  never  intended  to  be  kept ;  the  giant 
Pickleson,  otherwise  Rinaldo  di  Velasco,  with  his 
small  head,  weak  eyes,  and  weak  knees ;  his  m.aster, 
Mr.  Mim,  the  proprietor  of  the  caravan  ;  the  death 
of  little  Sophy  in  her  father's  arms,  while  he  con- 
vulses his  rustic  audience  with  his  witticisms  and 
funny  speeches ;  the  suicide  of  his  wife ;  the  pecu- 
liarities of  his  old  horse ;  and  the  intelligent  dog, 
who  "  taught  himself  out  of  his  own  head  to  growl 
at  any  person  in  the  crowd  that  bid  as  low  as  six- 
pence ; "  the  purchase  of  the  poor  little  deaf  and 
dumb  girl  for  a  pair  of  braces  ;  his  kindness  to  her, 
then  sending  her  to  an  institution  to  be  educated  ; 
her  subsequent  marriage  with  one  similarly  afflicted 
as  herself ;  their  coming  home,  after  a  long  absence, 
with  their  little  girl ;  and  Marigold's  intense  excite- 


283  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [i865. 

ment  in  finding  the  child  can  speak,  is  all  a  delightful 
reality,  and  thoroughly  true  to  nature. 

Dickens  was  a  guest  at  the  Mansion  House,  on 
January  i6th  following,  on  the  occasion  of  a  magnl- 
ficent  banquet.  He  proposed  the  ''Health  of  the 
Lady  Mayoress."  The  next  month  we  find  him 
taking  the  chair  (for  the  second  time)  at  the  annual 
dinner  of  the  Dramatic,  Equestrian,  and  Musical 
Fund,  at  Willis's  Rooms.* 

The  following  month  Dickens  took  a  prominent 
part  in  another  public  meeting— the  annual  festival 
of  the  Royal  General  Theatrical  Fund.  It  came  off 
on  March  28th,  and  Sir  Benjamin  Phillips,  the  Lord 
Mayor,  in  replying  to  his  "  health" — which  our  author 
had  proposed — told  this  interesting  anecdote  : — ''  My 
acquaintance  with  Mr.  Dickens  dates  from  my  boy- 
hood. I  recollect  being  in  Hamburgh,  some  thirty 
years  ago,  upon  a  commercial  errand,  when  my  mind 
and  time  were  engaged  in  those  pursuits,  and  meeting 
with  a  gentleman  with  whom  I  had  some  very  large 
transactions,  he  invited  me  to  breakfast  with  him  the 
following  morning.  I  went  to  him,  we  passed  a 
pleasant  hour,  and  after  he  rose  from  his  table  he 
looked  at  his  watch  and  said,  '  Let  us  take  a  walk. 
'Well,'  I  said,  '  I  have  no  objection  to  that,'  and  we 
walked  together.  He  seemed  very  restless  indeed. 
We  went  to  a  cafe  and  read  a  newspaper,  and  I  could 
get  him  to  do  anything  but  attend  to  business.  At 
last  out  he  took  his  watch  and  said, — 
*  February  14,  1866. 


iS66.]  DICKEXS  AT   THE  MANSION  HOUSE.  289 

"  '  My  dear  friend,  you  must  excuse  me,  this  is  the 
day  on  which  the  fifth  number  of  a  work  written  by 
one  of  your  countrymen,  and  called  *  Boz,'  comes  to 
Hamburgh,  and  until  I  get  that  number  and  read  it 
I  can  neither  talk  of  business  nor  anything  else.' 

"  I  take  shame  to  myself,"  continued  the  Lord 
Mayor  on  this  occasion,  ''  that  I  at  that  moment 
should  have  been  in  utter  ignorance  of  the  brilliant 
talent  of  my  illustrious  friend,  of  whom  I  can  say,  as 
was  said  by  another  distinguished  poet,  that  the  price 
of  his  literary  labours  is  immortality,  and  that  posterity 
will  generously  and  proudly  pay  it.  ...  I  never 
contemplated  in  my  philosophy  that  I  should  have 
the  honour  of  what  Mr.  Dickens  has  been  pleased  to 
call  a  personal  friendship  with  the  man  who,  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  say,  any  crov/ned  head  in  Europe  would 
be  proud  to  shake  by  the  hand  and  call  by  the  name — 
the  man  who  has  added,  in  this  generation,  honour 
and  dignity  to  his  profession — who  has  penetrated  and 
dug  from  the  hearts  of  men  their  virtues  and  their 
qualities,  and  to  v/hom  the  whole  world  owes  a  deep  and 
a  lasting  debt  of  gratitude  ;  and  I  unhesitatingly  say, 
and  say  most  proudly,  that  it  is  to  me,  representing, 
as  I  do,  the  largest  commercial  city  in  the  world — that 
I  consider  it  to  be  a  great  honour  to  be  permitted,  in 
the  name  of  humanity,  to  offer  my  grateful  and  grace- 
ful tribute  to  Mr.  Charles  Dickens." 

The  members  of  the  Metropolitan  Rowing  Clubs, 

dining  together  at  the  London  Tavern,  on  the  7th 

May  following,  Dickens,  as  President  of  the  Nautilus 

T 


290  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [iS66. 

Rowing  Club  (of  which  his  eldest  son  v/as  captain), 
occupied  the  chair :  his  speech  on  this  occasion  was 
full  of  humour. 

The  last  number  but  one  of  the  old  familiar 
Christmas  Numbers  v/as  now  at  hand.  "  Mugby 
Junction  "  was  the  title  of  that  issued  in  December, 
1866,  and  it  contained  a  larger  amount  of  writing  by 
Dickens  than  usual.  "Barbox  Brothers  and  Co.," 
"  The  Boy  at  Mugby,"  and  "  The  Signalman,"  were 
his  contributions. 

The  description  of  the  Mugby  Junction  Station 
at  three  in  the  morning,  in  tempestuous  weather  ; 
the  arrival  of  the  express  train,  the  guard  "glistening 
v/ith  drops  of  wet,  and  looking  at  the  tearful  face  of 
his  watch  by  the  light  of  his  lantern  ;"  the  alighting 
of  Barbox  Brothers;  the  appearance  of  "Lamps," 
the  velveteen  individual ;  his  daughter  Phoebe,  who 
kept  a  school ;  the  episode  of  Polly  going  astray, 
and  being  found  by  Barbox  Brothers ;  and  the 
relating  of  Barbox  Brothers'  past  life  and  adven- 
tures, are  told  in  a  manner  the  reader  will  not 
easily  forget. 

"  The  Boy  at  Mugby  "  was  intended  to  show  the 
abominable  system  of  our  railway  refreshment  rooms, 
with  their  stale  pastry,  saw-dust  sandwiches,  scalding 
tea  and  coffee,  and  unpalatable  butter-scotch,  in 
comparison  with  the  excellent  arrangements  for  the 
comfort  and  accommodation  of  railway  travellers  in 
France. 

As  some  indication  of  the  sale  of  these  "  Christmas 


1867.]  CLARKSON  STANFIELD.  291 

Numbers/'  we  may  state  that  the  sale  of  "Mugby 
Junction  "  exceeded  a  quarter  of  a  million  copies. 

During  the  first  three  months  of  the  year  1867 
he  gave  readings  at  St.  James's  Hall  to  crowded 
audiences,  having  in  the  previous  April,  May,  and 
June  (1866)  appeared  at  Manchester,  Greenwich, 
the  Crystal  Palace,  St.  James's  Hall,  and  other  places, 
delighting  and  amusing  many  thousands  of  people. 

On  the  5th  of  June  we  find  him  presiding  at 
the  ninth  anniversary  festival  of  the  Railway 
Benevolent  Society,  at  Willis's  Rooms,  and  it  was  in 
his  speech,  on  this  occasion,  that  he  gave  the  amusing 
story  of  "  The  Ten  Suitors." 

In  May  his  old  and  dear  friend,  Clarkson  Stanfield, 
the  Royal  Academician,  died,  and  the  reader  may 
remember  the  beautiful  and  touching  obituary  notice 
which  Dickens  penned  on  the  occasion — the  affec- 
tionate appreciation  of  the  delicate  shades  of  the 
great  maritime  artist's  character  which  that  notice 
evinced,  and  the  noble  peroration  with  which  it 
closed.  A  friend  of  the  late  illustrious  author,  to 
whom  we  are  already  indebted  for  some  interesting 
facts,  remarks  : — "  The  recent  earnest  wish  displayed 
by  the  Queen  to  confer  upon  Dickens  some  title  of 
honour,  and  the  womanly  refinement  shown  by  Her 
Majesty  in  seeking  to  make  that  honour  one  which 
he  could  accept  without  derogating  from  his  social 
principles,  gives  his  parting  words  on  Stanfield  a  not 
unkindly  significance.  It  was  after  enumerating  the 
artist's  many  claims  to  public  distinction,  after  spcci- 

T  2 


292 


LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1867. 


fying  several  of  his  works  by  name,  and  after  point- 
ing- to  the  recog-nition  he  would  have  received  had  he 
belonged  to  a  foreign  State,  that  Dickens  said  :  '  It 
is  superfluous  to  add,  that  he  died  Mr.  Stanfield — he 
was  an  Englishman.' " 

On  the  17th  September  following,  he  took  the  chair 
at  a  public  meeting  of  the  Printers'  Readers.  A  cor- 
rector of  the  press,  and  at  that  time  a  member  of 
the  "  Association,"  who  was  present  with  the  other 
working  men,  has  forwarded  to  us  this  account  of  the 
meeting.  Coming  from  one  of  the  men  themselves, 
it  is  of  interest,  as  showing  their  appreciation  of  that 
respect  and  sympathy  which  Charles  Dickens  ever 
expressed  for  honest  and  intelligent  working  men  : — 

"  I  well  remember,  on  the  evening  when  Dickens 
so  readily  consented  to  preside  at  a  meeting  of  the 
London  Association  of  Correctors  of  the  Press,  fol- 
lowing the  immortal  novelist  up  the  steps  of  the 
Salisbury  Hotel,  Fleet  Street,  where  the  meeting  was 
to  be  held.  The  great  master,  on  that  occasion,  met 
the  assemblage  of  literary  drudges  with  the  open- 
hearted  frankness  of  a  brother.  As  he  threw  aside 
his  large  light  cloak,  he  shook  hands  with  all  who 
sought  that  honour  with  the  utmost  warmth.  Even 
now  I  fancy  I  can  feel  the  firm  grip,  and  see  his 
cheery  smile.  He  was  dressed  with  the  greatest  care 
and  elegance,  as  if  for  an  evening  party  or  State  ball. 
His  florid  complexion,  dark  glittering  eye,  and  griz- 
zled beard,  were  very  striking ;  but,  above  all,  the 
loftiness  of  his  massive  brow — denoting  '  the  mighty 


1867.]  THE  PRINTERS     READERS.  293 

brain  within  ' — inspired  the  beholder  with  reverence. 
In  his  speech  he  expressed  the  warmest  friendship 
for  the  intelligent  body  of  men  before  him,  to  whom, 
he  said,  '  he  was  indebted  for  many  kindly  hints,  and 
judicious  corrections  and  queries  in  his  proofs,  which 
in  the  hurry  of  business  had  escaped  his  notice  while 
preparing  "copy,"  or  revising  sheets  for  press.'  He 
said  that  he  had  other  engagements  for  that  evening, 
but  had  at  once  put  them  aside  when  he  had  been 
invited  to  spend  an  hour  with  i\iQ  practical  correctors 
of  the  Press,  for  the  advancement  of  their  interests." 


^m 


IMSlW^MM^iffiM 


CHAPTER  XXVIIL 

SECOND  VISIT  TO  AMERICA. — PEDESTRIAN    TASTES. 


RES  SING  invitations  from  American  friends, 
and  the  desire  to  carry  out  a  long-nursed 
project,  induced  Mr.  Dickens  early  in  the 
year  to  make  preparations  for  a  visit  to  the  United 
States  in  the  autumn.  The  fact  soon  became 
known  to  the  American  journalists,  and  from  that 
time  until  he  landed,  paragraphs,  poems  of  welcome, 
and  scraps  of  so-called  intelligence — scraps  which 
surprised  even  Mr.  Dickens  himself — were  con- 
tinually appearing  in  the  papers  there.  The  New 
York  Tribune  said  : — "  Charles  Dickens  is  coming 
to  the  United  States  to  give  a  series  of  readings 
in  the  principal  cities  of  the  republic.  The  announce- 
ment will  be  received  with  pleasure  throughout  the 
country.  Our  people  do,  indeed,  remember  the 
'  American  Notes,'  and  the  satirical  chapters  in 
*  Martin  Chuzzlewit,'  and  are,  no  doubt,  of  opinion 
that,  as  a  matter  of  taste,  Mr.  Dickens  might  well 
have  been  more  gracious.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
our  people  like  free  speech  and  appreciate  frankness 
— not  forgetting  that  truth  should  be  the  North  Star 
of  authorship  ;  and  there  is  a  good  deal  of  truth  in 
what  Mr.  Dickens  said  about  us  on  returning  from 


1867.]  SECOND    VISIT    TO  AMERICA.  295 

his  first  visit  to  this  country."  In  England,  the  great 
novelist's  friends  arranged  for  a  Farewell  Banquet,  on 
the  most  sumptuous  scale.  It  took  place  on  Saturday- 
evening,  November  2nd,  at  the  Freemasons'  Tavern. 
The  new  hall  was  specially  decorated  for  the  occasion, 
the  panels  being  adorned  with  laurel  leaves,  and  each 
inscribed  with  the  name  of  one  of  Dickens's  w^orks  in 
splendid  letters  of  gold.  The  company  numbered 
between  400  and  500  gentlemen,  including  nearly  all 
the  eminent  men  in  art,  literature,  science,  law,  and 
medicine. 

Lord  Lytton  presided,  and  in  the  course  of  a 
magnificent  eulogium  upon  the  illustrious  novelist, 
said : — "  We  are  about  to  entrust  our  honoured 
countryman  to  the  hospitality  of  those  kindred  shores 
in  which  his  writings  are  as  much  household  words  as 
they  are  in  the  homes  of  England. 

"  If  I  may  speak  as  a  politician,  I  should  say  that 
no  time  for  his  visit  could  be  more  happily  chosen. 
For  our  American  kinsfolk  have  conceived,  rightly  or 
Vv^rongly,  that  they  have  som^e  recent  cause  of  com- 
plaint against  ourselves,  and  out  of  all  England  we 
could  not  have  selected  an  envoy — speaking  not  on 
behalf  of  our  Government,  but  of  our  people — more 
calculated  to  allay  irritation  and  propitiate  goodwill. 
***** 

"  How  many  hours  in  which  pain  and  sickness 
have  changed  into  cheerfulness  and  mirth  beneath  the 
wand  of  that  enchanter !  How  many  a  hardy  com- 
batant,   beaten    down    in    the    battle    of  life — and 


296  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1S67. 

nowhere  on  this  earth  is  the  battle  of  life  sharper 
than  in  the  commonwealth  of  America— has  taken 
new  hope,  and  new  courage,  and  new  force  from  the 
manly  lessons  of  that  unobtrusive  teacher." 

He  concluded  by  proposing  "A  prosperous  voyage, 
health,  and  long  life  to  our  illustrious  guest  and 
countryman,  Charles  Dickens  ; "  and,  if  we  remem- 
ber the  reports  given  of  the  banquet  rightly,  the 
company  rose  as  one  man  to  do  honour  to  the  toast, 
and  drank  it  with  such  expressions  of  enthusiasm 
and  goodwill  as  are  rarely  to  be  seen  in  any  public 
assembly.  Again  and  again  the  cheers  burst  forth, 
and  it  was  some  minutes  before  silence  was  restored. 

Mr.  Dickens  replied  in  a  speech  such  as  no  one 
else  could  have  delivered,  and  towards  its  conclusion 
he  said  : — "  The  story  of  my  going  to  America  is  very 
easily  and  briefly  told.  Since  I  was  there  before,  a 
vast  and  entirely  new  generation  has  arisen  in  the 
United  States.  Since  that  time,  too,  most  of  the 
best  known  of  my  books  have  been  written  and 
published.  The  new  generation  and  the  books  have 
come  together  and  have  kept  together,  until  at  length 
numbers  of  those  who  have  so  widely  and  constantly 
read  me,  naturally  desiring  a  little  variety  in  the 
relations  between  us,  have  expressed  a  strong  wish 
that  I  should  read  myself.  This  wish,  at  first  con- 
veyed to  me  through  public  as  well  as  through 
business  channels,  has  gradually  become  enforced  by 
an  immense  accumulation  of  letters  from  private 
individuals  and  associations  of  individuals,  all  express- 


1867.]  SECOND    VISIT   TO  AMERICA.  297 

ing  in  the  same  hearty,  homely,  cordial,  unaffected 
way  a  kind  of  personal  affection  for  me,  which  I  am 
sure  you  will  agree  with  me  that  it  would  be  down- 
right insensibility  on  my  part  not  to  prize.  Little  by 
little  this  pressure  has  become  so  great  that,  although, 
as  Charles  Lamb  says,  *  My  household  gods  strike 
a  terribly  deep  root,'  I  have  driven  them  from  their 
places,  and  this  day  w^eek,  at  this  hour,  shall  be 
upon  the  sea.  You  will  readily  conceive  that  I  am 
inspired  besides  by  a  natural  desire  to  see  for  myself 
the  astonishing  progress  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  over 
there — to  grasp  the  hands  of  many  faithful  friends 
whom  I  left  there — to  see  the  faces  of  a  multitude  of 
new  friends  upon  whom  I  have  never  looked — and, 
though  last,  not  least,  to  use  my  best  endeavours  to 
lay  down  a  third  cable  of  intercommunication  and 
alliance  between  the  Old  World  and  the  New. 

"  Twelve  years  ago,  when,  Heaven  knows,  I  little 
thought  I  should  ever  be  bound  upon  the  voyage 
which  now  lies  before  me,  I  wrote  in  that  form  of  my 
writings  which  obtains  by  far  the  most  extensive 
circulation,  these  words  about  the  American  nation  : — 
'  I  know  full  well  that  whatever  little  motes  my 
beamy  eyes  may  have  described  in  theirs,  that  they 
are  a  kind,  large-hearted,  generous,  and  great  people.' 
In  that  faith  I  am  going  to  see  them  again.  In  that 
faith  I  shall,  please  God,  return  from  them  in  the 
spring,  in  that  same  faith  to  live  and  to  die.  I\Iy  lords, 
ladies,  and  gentlemen,  I  told  you  in  the  beginning 
that  I  could   not   thank   you    enough,   and    Heaven 


298  LIFE    OF  CHARLES  DICKENS,  [1867. 

knows  I  have  most  thoroughly  kept  my  word.  If  I 
may  quote  one  other  short  sentence  from  myself,  let 
it  imply  all  that  I  have  left  unsaid  and  yet  deeply 
feel ;  let  it,  putting  a  girdle  round  the  earth,  com- 
prehend both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  at  once  in  this 
moment.  As  Tiny  Tim  observed,  *  God  bless  us, 
every  one.*" 

The  crreat  novelist  left  London  on  the  followinp- 
Friday  for  Liverpool,  being  accompanied  to  the 
station  by  a  host  of  friends  desirous  of  bidding  him 
"  God  speed  "  and  mt  7'evoir.  The  directors  of  the 
London  and  North-Western  Company  paid  Mr. 
Dickens  and  party  the  compliment  of  placing  at  their 
disposal  one  of  the  Royal  saloon  carriages,  the  appear- 
ance of  which  excited  great  interest  at  the  various 
stations  at  which  the  train  stopped.  On  Saturday 
morning  Mr.  Dickens  was  on  board  the  Cunard  mail- 
steamer  Cuba,  commanded  by  Capt.  Stone.  A  second 
officer's  cabin  was  set  aside  for  his  exclusive  use,  and 
everything  done  that  could  ensure  his  personal  com- 
fort. He  vv^as  accompanied  by  his  machinist,  Mr. 
Kelly,  and  a  man-servant ;  and — like  a  true  show- 
man— carried  with  him.  the  arrangements  of  his  own 
platform,  with  the  gas  apparatus  required  for  his 
readings. 

On  Friday,  the  23rd  of  the  same  month,  a  telegram, 
"  Safe  and  w^ell,"  was  received  in  London,  announcing 
his  arrival  at  Boston.  He  arrived  there  on  the  19th, 
and  was  received  with  acclamations.  Mr.  Dolby, 
his    agent,    who    preceded  him,    had    disposed    of 


IS67-68.]  SECOND   VISIT  TO  AMERICA.  299 

an  immense  number  of  tickets.  The  first  reading 
took  place  on  December  2nd,  at  Tremont  Temple. 
After  a  few  readings  in  Boston,  he  proceeded  to 
New  York,  Washington,  and  Philadelphia,  and  read 
to  immense  audiences,  being  everywhere  received 
with  the  greatest  enthusiasm. 

One  of  the  papers  *  there  said  : — "  No  literary  man 
except  Thackeray  ever  had  such  a  welcome  from 
Philadelphia  as  Charles  Dickens  received  last  night 
at  Concert  Hall.  The  selling  of  the  tickets  two 
weeks  ago  almost  amounted  to  a  disturbance  of  the 
peace.  Five  hundred  people  in  line,  standing  from 
midnight  till  noon,  poorly  represented  the  general 
desire  to  hear  the  great  novelist  on  his  first  night. 
Everywhere  that  I  looked  in  the  crovv'ded  hall  I  saw 
some  one  not  unknown  to  fame — some  one  repre- 
senting either  the  intelligence  or  the  beauty,  the 
wealth  or  the  fashion  of  Philadelphia.  It  was  an 
audience  which,  in  the  words  of  Serjeant  Buzfuz,  I 
might  declare  an  enlightened,  a  high-minded,  a  right 
feeling,  a  dispassionate,  a  conscientious,  a  sympa- 
thizing, a  contemplative,  and  a  poetical  jury,  to  judge 
Charles  Dickens  without  fear  or  favour.  The 
novelist  stepped  upon  the  stage.      His  book  in  his 

hand,  his  bouquet  in  his  coat but  I  will  not  describe 

to  readers  the  face  and  form  many  of  them  know 
so  well.  Mr.  Dickens  was  received  coldly.  Here 
was  an  Englishman  who  had  pulled  us  to  pieces  and 
tweaked    the    national    nose    by    writing    '  Martin. 

*  New  York  Tribune,  14th  Jan.  1868. 


3CO  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1868. 

Chuzzlewit '  and  *  American  Notes.*  Philadelphia 
held  out  as  long  as  she  could.  The  first  smile  came 
in  when  Bob  Cratchit  warmed  himself  Avith  a  candle, 
but  before  Scrooge  had  got  through  with  the  first 
ghost  the  laughter  was  universal  and  uproarious. 
The  Christmas  dinner  of  the  Cratchits  was  a  tre- 
mendous success,  as  was  Scrooge's  Niece  by  marriage. 
There  was  a  young  lady  in  white  fur  and  blue  ribbons, 
name  unknown  to  the  writer,  upon  whose  sympathies 
Mr.  Dickens  played  as  if  she  had  been  a  piano.  A 
deaf  man  could  have  followed  his  story  by  looking 
at  her  face.  The  goose  convulsed  her.  The  pudding 
threw  her  into  hysterics ;  and  when  the  story  came 
to  the  sad  death  of  Tiny  Tim,  *  my  little,  little  child,' 
tears  were  streaming  down  her  cheeks.  This  young 
lady  was  as  good  as  Mr.  Dickens,  and  all  the  more 
attractive  because  she  couldn't  help  it.  Then,  as  a 
joke  began  to  be  dimly  foreseen,  it  was  great  to  see 
the  faint  smile  dawning  on  long  lines  of  faces,  grow- 
ing brighter  and  brighter  till  it  passed  from  sight 
to  sound,  and  thundered  to  the  roof  in  vast  and 
inextinguishable  laughter." 

During  his  visit  to  America,  the  great  men  of  the 
land  travelled  from  far  and  near  to  be  present  at  the 
readings  ;  the  poet  Longfellow  went  three  nights  in 
succession,  and  he  afterwards  declared  to  a  friend  that 
they  were  "  the  most  delightful  evenings  of  his  life." 

On  Saturday,  the  i8th  April,  he  was  entertained  at 
a  farewell  dinner  at  Delmonico's  Hotel,  New  York. 
Two   hundred   gentlemen  sat  down  to  it,    and   Mr. 


1868.]  SECOND    VISIT  TO  AMERICA.  301 

Horace  Greeley  presided.  Dickens  was  somewhat 
indisposed,  but  in  reply  to  the  toast  of  his  health,  he 
gave  this  interesting  experience  of  his  second  visit  to 
America  : — "  It  has  been  said  in  your  newspapers, 
that  for  months  past  I  have  been  collecting  materials 
for  and  hammering  away  at  a  new  book  on  America. 
This  has  much  astonished  me,  seeing  that  all  that 
time  it  has  been  perfectly  well  known  to  my  pub- 
lishers, on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  that  I  positively 
declared  that  no  consideration  on  earth  should  induce 
me  to  write  one.  But  what  I  have  intended,  what  I 
have  resolved  upon  (and  this  is  the  confidence  I  seek 
to  place  in  you),  is,  on  my  return  to  England,  in  my 
own  person,  to  bear,  for  the  behoof  of  my  country- 
men, such  testimony  to  the  gigantic  changes  in  this 
country  as  I  have  hinted  at  to-night.  Also,  to  record 
that,  wherever  I  have  been,  in  the  smallest  places 
equally  with  the  largest,  I  have  been  received  with 
unsurpassable  politeness,  delicacy,  sweet  temper, 
hospitality,  consideration,  and  with  unsurpassable 
respect  for  the  privacy  daily  enforced  upon  me  by 
the  nature  of  my  avocation  here,  and  the  state  of 
my  health.  This  testimony,  so  long  as  I  live,  and 
so  long  as  my  descendants  have  any  legal  right  in 
my  books,  I  shall  cause  to  be  republished,  as  an 
appendix  to  every  copy  of  those  two  books  of  mine 
in  which  I  have  referred  to  America.  And  this  I 
will  do  and  cause  to  be  done,  not  in  mere  love  and 
thankfulness,  but  because  I  regard  it  as  an  act  of 
plain  justice  and  honour." 


302  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [i36S. 

The  time  for  Mr.  Dickens's  departure  was  now  close 
at  hand.  His  last  reading  was  given  at  the  Stein- 
way  Hall,  on  the  ensuing  Monday  evening.  The 
task  finished,  he  was  about  to  retire,  but  a  tremen- 
dous burst  of  applause  stopped  him.  He  knew  what 
his  audience  wanted — a  few  words — a  parting  greet- 
ing before  saying  good-bye.  Their  illustrious  visitor 
did  not  disappoint  them  : — "  The  shadow  of  one  word 
has  impended  over  me  this  evening,"  said  Mr.  Dickens, 
"  and  the  time  has  come  at  length  when  the  shadow 
must  fall.  It  is  but  a  very  short  one,  but  the  weight 
of  such  things  is  not  measured  by  their  length,  and 
two  much  shorter  words  express  the  round  of  our 
human  existence.  When  I  was  reading  *  David 
Copperfield,'  a  few  evenings  since,  I  felt  there  was 
more  than  usual  significance  in  the  words  of  Peg- 

gotty,  *  My  future  life  lies  over  the  sea.' 

The  relations  which  have  been  set  up  between  us 
must  now  be  broken  for  ever.  Be  assured,  however, 
that  you  will  not  pass  from  my  mind.  I  shall  often 
realize  you  as  I  see  you  now,  equally  by  my  winter 
fire,  and  in  the  green  English  summer  weather.  I 
shall  never  recall  you  as  a  mere  public  audience,  but 
rather  as  a  host  of  personal  friends,  and  ever  with  the 
greatest  gratitude,  tenderness,  and  consideration. 
Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  beg  to  bid  you  farewell. 
God  bless  you,  and  God  bless  the  land  in  which  I 
leave  you  !" 

He  left  America  on  the  22nd  of  April,  and  the 
following  extract  from  the  New  York  Tribune,  of  the 


i863.]  SECOND    VISIT  TO  AMERICA.  303 

day  after,  will  convey  the  best  impression  of  the  great 
respect  paid  to  him,  and  the  general  regret  expressed 
at  his  departure  : — 

*'  The  Russia  left  her  wharf  early  yesterday  morning,  and 
steamed  down  the  bay.  V/hen  near  Statcn  Island,  she  rounded 
to  and  waited  for  mails  and  passengers  to  arrive  by  the  tugboat 
from  Jersey  city.  When  the  boat  came  alongside,  bearing, 
among  others,  M.  Paul  du  Chailhi  and  Mr.  George  "W.  Childs, 
the  passengers  crowded  to  the  side  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  Mr. 
Dickens,  who,  leaning  over  the  rail  on  the  quarter-deck  of  the 
Russia,  smiled  and  nodded  to  his  friends  below.  Two  hours 
before  he  had  left  the  Westminster  Hotel,  amid  the  cheers  of 
those  who  had  gathered  to  bid  him  farewell,  and  as  he  entered 
his  carriage,  bouquets  tossed  by  fair  hands  from  windows  fell  at 
his  feet.  In  order  to  avoid  a  crowd  of  spectators,  he  left  the 
city  from  the  foot  of  Spring  Street,  in  the  private  tugboat  of 
his  friend  Mr.  Morgan.  On  board  the  tug  were  Mr.  James  T. 
Fields,  of  Boston,  Mr.  Anthony  and  Mr.  Eytinge,  artists,  Mr. 
William  Winter,  Mr.  Osgood,  of  Ticknor  and  Fields'  (this 
gentleman  has  accompanied  Mr.  Dickens  throughout  his  Ameri- 
can campaign),  Mr.  H.  D.  Palmer  and  his  associate,  Mr.  H.  C. 
Jarrett,  of  Niblo's,  and  Mr.  Marshall  B.  Wild,  of  Boston.  The 
last-named  gentleman  was  Mr.  Dickens's  ticket  agent.  Before 
he  bade  his  farewell,  Mr.  Dickens  acknowledged  the  value  of 
his  agent's  services  by  making  him  a  present  of  a  cheque  for 
150  dollars.  They  steamed  down  the  bay,  followed  by  the 
police-boat,  having  on  board  Mr.  Thurlow  Weed,  the  superin- 
tendent of  police,  and  a  number  of  ladies  bearing  beautiful 
bouquets  for  Mr.  Dickens.  They  reached  the  Russia,  and  v/ere 
soon  on  board.  The  state-room  prepared  for  Mr.  Dickens  was 
laden  with  flowers. 

"  A  basket.^  elegantly  arranged,  was  presented  to  him  by  Mr, 


304  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [iS6S. 

Childs.  In  the  centre.  In  white  carnations,  upon  a  ground  of 
red  roses,  was  the  word  'Farewell,'  and  below,  the  initials 
'  C.  D/ 

"  It  was  a  lovely  day — a  clear  blue  sky  overhead.  As  he 
stood  resting  on  the  rail,  chatting  with  this  friend  and  writing 
an  autograph  for  that  one,  the  genial  face  all  aglow  with  delight, 
it  was  seemingly  hard  to  say  the  word  '  Farewell,'  yet  the  tug- 
boat screamed  the  note  of  warning,  and  those  who  must  return 
to  the  city  went  down  the  side. 

"  All  had  left  save  Mr.  Fields.  '  Boz '  held  the  hand  of  the 
publisher  within  his  own.  There  was  an  unmistakable  look  on 
both  faces.  The  lame  foot  came  down  from  the  rail,  and  the 
friends  were  locked  in  each  other's  arms. 

"  Mr.  Fields  then  hastened  down  the  side,  not  daring  to  look 
behind.     The  lines  were  *  cast  off.' 

"  A  cheer  was  given  for  Mr.  Dolby,  when  Mr.  Dickens 
patted  him  approvingly  upon  the  shoulder,  saying,  'Good 
boy.' 

"  Another  cheer  for  Mr.  Dickens,  and  the  tug  steamed  away. 

"'Good-bye, 'Boz.' 

"  '  Good-bye,'  from  Mr.  Fields,  who  stood  the  central  figure 
of  a  group  of  three,  Messrs.  Du  Chaillu  and  Childs  upon  each 
side. 

"  Then 'Boz'  put  his  hat  upon  his  cane  and  waved  it,  and  the 
answer  came  '  Good-bye,'  and  '  God  bless  you,  every  one !' " 

After  a  pleasant  homeward  voyage,  he  arrived  at 
Liverpool,  on  ist  May,  1868. 

During  his  stay,  he  was  besieged  to  such  an  extent 
with  applications  for  his  autograph,  that  he  was 
obliged  to  have  a  printed  form  in  reply  : — 

"  To  comply  zvith  your  modest  request  would  not  he 
reasonably  possible^ 


r868.]  SECOXD    VISIT  TO  AMERICA.  305 

To  envelope,  direct,  and  post  these  replies,  the  ser- 
vices of  three  secretaries  were  required. 

Applications  of  another  kind,  however,  were 
personally  attended  to.  Thus  It  was  told  there, 
that  a  lady  of  Charleston,  a  great  admirer  of  Mr. 
Dickens's  writings,  but  unfortunately  paralyzed  m 
her  limbs  from  an  accident,  so  that  she  could  not 
walk,  wrote  to  ask  If  the  doors  of  the  ''  Temple " 
could  be  opened  to  her  earlier  than  the  usual  hour,  that 
she  ml^rht  be  lifted  into  the  hall  unobserved.  Mr. 
Dickens  immediately  acknowledged  the  note,  gave 
the  requisite  order  for  the  lady's  accommodation,  and 
claimed  the  honour  of  presenting  her,  besides,  with 
complimentary  tickets  of  admission. 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  the  smallest  house  which 
welcomed  Mr.  Dickens  anywhere  in  America  was 
Rochester,  New  York  State,  where  the  reading 
"netted"  only  2,500  dollars.  The  largest  receipts, 
on  several  occasions,  exceeded  6,000  dollars. 

Mr.  Dickens's  capabilities  as  a  pedestrian  had  been 
discussed  in  America  long  before  he  arrived  there, 
and  our  Transatlantic  friends  were  not  satisfied  until 
a  "  match  "  had  been  brought  about.  This  was  ar- 
ranged at  Boston,  betwixt  Mr.  Dolby  (Mr.  Dickens's 
English  agent)  and  Mr.  Osgood  (the  American  pub- 
lisher). The  distance  was  to  be  twelve  miles,  and 
the  contest  was  to  take  place  on  the  Mill-dam  Road, 
towards  Newton.  Mr.  Dickens  and  Mr.  Fields  (the 
publisher)  were  to  be  umpires,  and  had  to  walk  the 
whole  twelve  miles  with  their  respective  men.     Im- 

U 


3o6  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1868, 

mediately  the  match  was  made  known,  the  papers 
teemed  with  particulars  concerning  it.  "  Dickens," 
one  journal  said,  "was  a  superb  pedestrian,  good  for 
thirty  miles  '  on  end '  any  day."  The  articles  were 
drawn  up  by  the  great  author,  and  subscribed  to  by 
all  four  gentlemen.  The  public  were,  however,  not 
made  acquainted  with  the  place  or  the  time  until 
after  the  contest  was  over.  The  affair  came  off  on 
the  following  Saturday,  at  twelve  o'clock.  The 
pedestrians  were  all,  it  is  said,  "  appropriately  cos- 
tumed, and  they  went  at  a  tremendous  pace.  The 
first  six  miles  were  accomplished  in  one  hour  and 
twenty-three  minutes,  and  the  return  six  miles  were 
finished  by  Mr.  Osgood  (the  American)  in  one  hour 
and  twenty-five  minutes,  he  winning  the  match  by 
exactly  seven  minutes.  An  elegant  dinner  was  given 
by  Mr.  Dickens  at  the  Parker  House,  the  same  even- 
ing, to  signalize  the  occasion."  This  anecdote  shows 
the  heartiness  v/ith  which  he  entered  into  any  healthy 
out-door  sport  he  cared  to  join  in,  and  his  gameness 
and  youthful  vigour  in  keeping  up  with  men  not 
more  than  half  his  age. 

Whilst  v/e  are  upon  the  subject  of  our  author's 
pedestrian  tastes,  we  may  mention  that,  like  Dr. 
Johnson,  Dickens  was  singularly  fond  of  the  old 
city  streets  and  alleys  when  emptied  of  the  busy 
throng  that  filled  them  in  the  day-time.  Lord  Jeffrey, 
writing  to  him  once,  remarked  : — "  How  funny,  that 
besoin  of  yours  for  midnight  rambling  in  city  streets  ; 
and  how  curious  that  Macaulay  should  have  the  same 


i868.]  SECOND    VISIT   TO  AMERICA.  307 

taste  or  fancy !  If  I  thought  there  was  any  such 
inspiration  as  yours  to  be  caught  by  the  practice,  I 
should  expose  my  poor  irritable  trachea,  I  think,  to 
a  nocturnal  pilgrimage,  without  scruple.  But,  I  fear, 
I  should  have  my  venture  for  my  pains." 

The  reader  may  remember  our  extract  from  his 
letter  to  the  Countess  of  Blessington,  where  he  says — 
in  allusion  to  his  habit  of  walking  at  nights  whilst 
planning  out  a  nev/  novel — "  I  go  wandering  about 
at  night  into  the  strangest  places,  according  to  my 
usual  propensity  at  such  times,  seeking  rest  and  find- 
ing none." 

A  story  is  told  that  on  one  pedestrian  occasion  he 
was  taken  for  a  "smasher."  He  had  retired  to  rest 
at  Gad's  Hill,  but  found  he  could  not  sleep,  when  he 
determined  to  turn  out,  dress,  and  walk  up  to  London 
— some  thirty  miles.  He  reached  the  suburbs  in  the 
gray  morning,  and  applied  at  an  "early"  coffee- 
house for  some  refreshment,  tendering  for  the  same 
a  sovereign,  the  smallest  coin  he  happened  to  have 
about  him. 

"  It 's  a  bad  'un,"  said  the  man,  biting  at  it,  and 
trying  to  twist  it  in  all  directions,  "  and  I  shall  give 
you  in  charge."  Sure  enough  the  coin  did  have  a 
suspicious  look.  Mr.  Dickens  had  carried  some  sub- 
stance in  his  pocket  which  had  oxydized  it.  Seeing 
that  matters  looked  awkward,  he  at  once  said,  "  But  I 
am  Charles  Dickens  !  " 

"  Come,  that  won't  do  ;  any  man  could  say  he  was 
*  Charles   Dickens.'     How   do  I  know  ?"     The  man 

U  2 


3o8  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [i868. 

had  been  victimized  only  the  week  previously,  and 
at  length,  at  Mr.  Dickens's  suggestion,  it  was  arranged 
that  they  should  go  to  a  chemist,  to  have  the  coin 
tested  with  aquafortis.  In  due  course,  when  the 
shops  opened,  a  chemist  was  found,  who'  immediately 
recognized  the  great  novelist — notwithstanding  his 
dusty  appearance — and  the  coffee-house  keeper  was 
satisfactorily  convinced  that  he  had  not  been  enter- 
taining a  "smasher." 

It  is  pleasant  to  know,  that  upon  the  great  novel- 
ist's return  to  England,  the  farmers  and  neighbours 
around  Gad's  Hill  draped  their  houses  with  flags  to 
receive  him.  "  He  was  extremely  popular  in  the 
place  where  he  lived,"  says  our  informant ;  "  he  was 
a  man  of  practical  charity  at  home  and  abroad,  and 
gave  away  large  sums  judiciously  every  year.  Indeed 
he  would  get  up  in  the  night  and  go  ten  miles  to  aid 
any  one  who  was  suffering." 

"No  Thoroughfare"  was  the  title  of  the  Christmas 
liumber  of  All  the  Year  Round,  which  appeared 
during  Dickens's  absence  in  the  Christmas  of  1867. 
It  consisted  of  a  sensational  story,  the  joint  produc- 
tion of  Dickens  and  Wilkie  Collins. 

It  was  dramatized  by  the  authors,  and  had  a  most 
successful  run  at  the  Adelphi  Theatre  for  151  nights, 
and  was  then  produced  at  the  Royal  Standard  by 
the  same  company,  which  consisted  of  the  following 
distinguished  actors  and  actresses  :  Messrs.  Benjamin 
Webster,  Fechter,  Belmore,  and  Neville  ;  Mesdames 
Mellon  and  Billington,  and  Miss  Carlotta  Leclercq. 


1868.J  SECOND    VISIT  TO  AMERICA.  309 

"  Holiday  Romance "  and  "  George  Silverman's 
Explanation,"  both  by  Dickens,  and  published  in  All 
the  Year  Roiindy  in  the  months  of  January  to  March, 
1868,  attracted  some  slight  attention,  but  did  not  add 
very  much  to  his  fame  as  an  author. 


— «»- 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

THE  FAREWELL  READINGS. — FAILING  HEALTH. 

HE  "Farewell  Readings,"  which  commenced 
towards  the  close  of  1868,  will  be  too 
familiar  to  most  readers  to  require  other 
than  a  passing  mention  of  them.  The  Messrs.  Chap- 
pell,  the  well-known  music-publishers  of  Bond 
Street,  had  contracted  with  Mr.  Dickens  for  a  given 
number  of  final  readings,  to  take  place  in  the  prin- 
cipal towns  of  England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland ; 
and  the  enormous  crowds  who  thronged  to  hear  them 
showed  the  unabated  interest  all  classes  took  in  the 
great  novelist  and  his  books. 

In  the  month  of  November,  1868,  a  new  series  of 
All  the  Year  Round  appeared,  the  first  series  having 
reached  twenty  volumes.  It  was  marked  by  the  disap- 
pearance of  his  popular  Christmas  number,  by  reason 
— Mr.  Dickens  said — that  it  had  been  so  extensively 
and  regularly  and  often  imitated,  that  it  was  in  very 
great  danger  of  becoming  tiresome, — a  statement 
which  was  not  at  all  well  received  by  the  press, 
which  said,  very  truly,  that,  to  the  great  body  of 
readers,  the  absence  of  the  Christmas  number  would 
be  a  national  disappointment. 


1869.]  THE  FAREWELL  READINGS.  3ti 

Continuing  the  readings  in  London  and  the  pro- 
vinces, Dickens  at  last  reached  Liverpool,  where  it 
was  forthwith  resolved  to  entertain  him  at  a  grand 
banquet.  This  took  place  on  Saturday  evening,  the 
loth  April,  1869,  at  the  St.  George's  Hall,  the  Mayor 
presiding.  At  the  time,  it  v/as  spoken  of  as  being 
one  of  the  most  sumptuous  gatherings  of  the  kind 
ever  seen  in  this  country.  The  number  of  ladies 
and  gentlemen  who  sat  down  to  dinner  was  about 
700.  The  invited  guests,  in  addition  to  the  guests 
of  the  evening,  were  Lord  Dufferin,  M.  Alphonse 
Esquiros,  Lord  Houghton,  A.  TroUope,  Palgrave 
Simpson,  W.  Hepworth  Dixon,  Andrew  Halliday, 
Joseph  Mayer,  F.S.A.,  G.  A.  Sala,  A.  TroUope,  jun., 
and  Charles  Dickens,  jun.  Next  to  Mr.  Dickens, 
Lord  Dufterin  made  the  best  speech,  and  some  of 
his  allusions  to  the  good  effects  which  the  writings 
of  their  guest  were  destined  to  exercise  over  all 
English-speaking  peoples  were  admirable.  Concern- 
ing the  friendly  hint  which  Lord  Houghton  gave  our 
author,  that,  had  he  sought  Parliamentary  honours, 
he  might  have  done  his  country  good  service,  and  have 
been  rewarded  by  titles  of  honour,  this  extract  from 
his  speech  has  a  biographical  significance  : — "  When 
I  first  took  literature  as  my  profession  in  England, 
I  calmly  resolved  within  myself  that,  whether  I  suc- 
ceeded or  whether  I  failed,  literature  should  be  my 
■sole  profession.  It  appeared  to  me  at  that  time  that 
it  was  not  so  vv^ell  understood  in  England  as  it  was 
in  other  countries  that  literature  was  a  dignified  pro- 


312  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1869 

fession,  by  which  any  man  might  stand  or  fall.  I 
made  a  compact  with  myself  that  in  my  person 
literature  should  stand,  and  by  itself,  of  itself,  and 
for  itself;  and  there  is  no  consideration  on  earth 
"^  which  would  induce  me  to  break  that  bars^ain." 

Continuing  the  ''Farewell  Readings"  with  un- 
varied success,  he  reached  Preston  a  fortnight  after, 
but  became  so  ill  there  that  he  was  forbidden  by  his 
medical  advisers  to  read  again  until  the  following 
year.  A  personal  friend,  who  was  with  him  on  this 
journey,  thus  describes  his  indisposition.  The  friend 
had  gone  down  to  Leeds  at  Mr.  Dickens's  request : — 

*'  After  the  business  of  the  eveninc^  was  over  we 
supped  together  at  the  Queen's  Hotel,  and  I  noticed 
that  he  (Dickens)  looked  jaded  and  worn,  and  had  to 
a  certain  extent  lost  that  marvellous  elasticity  of 
spirits  which  was  his  great  characteristic.  He  was 
suffering,  too,  from  an  inflammation  of  the  ball  of 
the  foot,  which  had  previously  occasioned  him  some 
annoyance,  and  the  origin  and  cause  of  which  could 
never  be  rightly  settled  by  his  medical  attendants, 
although  amongst  those  whom  he  had  consulted 
about  it  were  Sir  Henry  Thompson  and  Professor 
Syme. 

"  He  relieved  himself  of  his  boot  immediately  on 
gaining  the  room,  and  while  he  remained  sat  with 
his  foot  swathed  in  lotioned  bandages  ;  but  he  was 
evidently  fatigued  and  depressed,  and  retired  early. 
The  next  morning  at  breakfast  his  ordinary  cheer- 
fulness had  returned,  and  he  rallied  the  writer,  who 


1869.]  THE  FAREWELL  READINGS.  313 

was  about  to  visit  Sheffield  in  the  rain  which  was 
then  pouring  down,  about  his  probable  chances  of 
pleasure,  remarking  that  *it  was  just  the  kind  of  day 
in  which  the  loveliness  of  the  locality  would  be  seen 
to  the  highest  advantage.'  On  the  Thursday  in  the 
next  week  Mr.  Dickens  was  to  read  at  Preston,  but 
still  feeling  ill  had  summoned  his  friend  and  usual 
medical  attendant,  Mr.  Frank  Beard,  of  Welbeck- 
street,  to  meet  him  there.  On  Mr.  Beard's  arrival  he 
at  once  saw  the  gravity  of  the  case,  and  instantly 
ordered  Mr.  Dickens  then  and  there  to  give  up  all 
bodily  and  mental  exertion  for  the  time.  In  vain  it 
was  urged  that  an  enormous  number  of  tickets  had 
been  sold  for  that  evening's  reading.  Mr.  Beard 
would  hear  of  no  excuse,  but  carried  off  Mr.  Dickens 
with  him  to  London  by  the  five  o'clock  train. 

*'  The  precaution  thus  seasonably  taken  seemed  to 
have  due  effect.  Mr.  Dickens  retired  to  his  residence 
at  Gad's  Hill,  and,  implicitly  obeying  the  orders  of  his 
physicians,  appeared  soon  to  regain  his  normal  state 
of  physical  health  and  strength.  Indeed,  a  very  few 
weeks  afterwards,  replying  to  an  inquiry  made  by  a 
friend  as  to  his  condition,  he  wrote,  *  After  all  that 
has  been  said,  I  feel  almost  like  an  impostor ;  I  am 
so  unconscionably  well.'"  * 

This  illness  served  to  bring  him  under  the  notice  of 
several  bigots  and  fanatics,  who  pestered,  him  with 
tracts,  and  preached  at  him.     But  soon  after,  in  his 

*    Oi^jfr err,  June  12th,  1870. 


314  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1869. 

own  periodical  and  in  his  own  earnest  manner,  he 
showed  them  how  distasteful  these  pertinaceous  at- 
tentions were  to  him,  and  how  very  unnecessary  he 
considered  them.  It  is  believed  now  that  these  were 
the  first  symptoms  of  the  malady  which  finally 
carried  him  off. 

The  great  International  University  Boat  Race 
between  Oxford  and  Harvard  having  taken  place  on 
the  27th  August,  the  London  Rowing  Club  invited 
the  crews  to  dinner  at  the  Crystal  Palace  on  the 
following  Monday.  Desirous  of  showing  his 
American  friends  the  love  he  bore  their  country, 
and  of  expressing  his  sympathy  with  a  healthy  and 
manly  exercise,  he  at  once  accepted  the  invitation 
to  be  present,  and  on  the  occasion  delivered  one  of 
his  very  best  speeches, — notwithstanding  that  he 
was  in  the  doctor's  hands  at  the  time.  t 

His  health  continuing  to  improve,  he  was,  on  the 
27th  of  September,  enabled  to  deliver  the  annual 
address  at  the  commencement  of  the  winter  session 
of  the  Birmingham  and  Midland  Institute,  of  which 
Mr.  Dickens  was  president.  This  was  his  longest 
effort  in  public  speaking,  and  although  somewhat 
seviere  and  didactic  when  comxpared  with  former 
speeches,  it  is  an  admirable  example  of  his  inimit- 
able style.  It  was  delivered — one  who  was  present 
during  the  delivery  informs  us — without  note  of  any 
kind,  except  the  quotation  from  Sydney  Smith,  and 
without  a  single  pause.  Respecting  Mr.  Dickens's 
concluding  words,  when  acknowledging  the  vote  of 


1870.1  THE  FAREWELL  READINGS.  315 

thanks  : — "  My  faith  in  the  people  governing  is,  on 
the  whole,  infinitesimal ;  my  faith  in  the  People 
governed  is,  on  the  whole,  illimitable,"  considerable 
discussion  arose  in  the  public  prints  as  to  the  precise 
meaning  the  speaker  desired  to  convey.  But  in  the 
following  January  (1870),  when  he  attended  at  the 
Institute  to  distribute  the  prizes  and  certificates  to  the 
most  successful  students,  he  gave  this  explanation  : — 

'^  When  I  was  here  last  autumn  I  made,  in  reference 
to  some  remarks  of  your  respected  member,  Mr. 
Dixon,  a  short  confession  of  my  political  faith — or 
perhaps  I  should  better  say,  want  of  faith.  It 
imported  that  I  have  very  little  confidence  in  the 
people  who  govern  us — please  to  observe  ^  people  * 
there  will  be  with  a  small  '  p,' — but  that  I  have  great 
confidence  in  the  People  whom  they  govern — please 
to  observe  *  People '  there  with  a  large  *  P.'  This 
was  shortly  and  elliptically  stated,  and  was  with  no 
evil  intention,  I  am  absolutely  sure,  in  some  quarters 
inversely  explained.  Perhaps,  as  the  inventor  of  a 
certain  extravagant  fiction,  but  one  which  I  do  see 
rather  frequently  quoted  as  if  there  were  grains  of 
truth  at  the  bottom  of  it — a  fiction  called  the  *  Circum- 
locution Office,' — and  perhaps  also  as  the  writer  of 
an  idle  book  or  two,  whose  public  opinions  are  not 
obscurely  stated — perhaps  in  these  respects  I  do  not 
sufficiently  bear  in  mind  Hamlet's  caution  to  speak 
by  the  card,  lest  equivocation  should  undo  me. 

"  Now  I  complain  of  nobody  ;  but  simply  in  order 
that  there  may  be  no  mistake  as  to  what  I  did  mean, 


3i5  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1870. 

and  as  to  what  I  do  mean,  I  will  re-state  my  mean- 
ing, and  I  will  do  so  in  the  words  of  a  great  thinker, 
a  great  writer,  and  a  great  scholar,*  whose  death, 
unfortunately  for  mankind,  cut  short  his  *  History  of 
Civilization  in  England  : ' — '  They  may  talk  as  they 
will  about  reforms  which  Government  has  introduced 
and  improvements  to  be  expected  from  legislation, 
but  whoever  will  take  a  wider  and  more  commanding- 
view  of  human  affairs,  will  soon  discover  that  such 
hopes  are  chimerical.  They  will  learn  that  lawgivers 
are  nearly  always  the  obstructors  of  society  instead 
of  its  helpers,  and  that  in  the  extremely  few  cases 
v/here  their  measures  have  turned  out  well,  their 
success  has  been  owing  to  the  fact  that,  contrary  to 
their  usual  custom,  they  have  impHcitly  obeyed  the 
spirit  of  their  time,  and  have  been — as  they  always 
should  be — the  mere  servants  of  the  people,  to 
whose  wishes  they  are  bound  to  give  a  public  and 
legal  sanction.' " 

During  the  past  winter  Dickens  resumed  his  read- 
ings at  St.  James's  Hall,  and  to  avoid  the  necessity  of 
frequent  journeyings  to  and  from  Gad's  Hill,  he  rented 
for  six  months  the  town  house  of  his  old  friend,  Mr. 
Milner  Gibson,  in  Hyde  Park-place,  which  he  con- 
tinued to  occupy  up  to  the  end  of  May  last.  This 
house  in  future  will  have  a  special  interest,  from  the 
fact  that  here,  in  his  bedroom  on  the  first  floor, 
with  the   roar   of    Oxford-street   beneath   him — his 

*  Henry  Thomas  Buckle. 


THE     HOME     OF     CHARLES     DICKENS 
Nov.   1869 — ALw.  1870. 


No.  5  HYDE  PARK  PLACE. 

Mr.  Mihier  Gib.son'.s  house,  which  Dickens  rented  during  the  winter  months.  It  wa.i 
the  temporary  home  where  much  of  hi.s  last  unfinished  work,  "  Edwin  Drood,"  was 
written.      He  only  lived  a  few  weeks  after  his  return  to  Gad's  Hill. 


iSyo.]  THE  FAREWELL  READINGS.  317 

studies  suffered  no  interruption  from  street  noises — a 
large  part  of  his  unfinished  work,  "  Edwin  Drood," 
was  Avritten. 

We  may  mention  that  Mr.  Dickens's  father-in-law, 
Mr.  George  Hogarth,  died  on  the  12th  February,  in 
his  87th  year.  In  his  earher  days  he  was  Sir  Waher 
Scott's  law  agent,  and  was  personally  acquainted 
with  most  of  the  literary  characters  of  the  day. 
Christopher  North,  in  "Noctes  Ambrosianae,"  makes 
mention  of  him.  He  was  musical  critic  on  the  staff 
of  the  Daily  Nezvs,  from  the  time  of  its  starting  until 
1866,  when  failing  health  compelled  him  to  resign  his 
post. 

On  the  15th  of  March  Dickens  gave  his  "Farewell 
Reading,"  at  St.  James's  Hall,  It  was  his  favourite 
selection — the  "  Christmas  Carol,"  and  "  The  Trial 
from  Pickwick."  Long  before  the  hour  appointed, 
the  thoroughfare  leading  to  the  hall  was  blocked  up, 
and  when  the  doors  were  open  every  seat  was  instantly 
taken,  and  many  thousands  of  people  were  unable 
to  obtain  admittance.  As  if  to  assure  his  auditors 
that  his  powers  were  undiminished,  he  read  with  more 
than  usual  spirit  and  energy,  and  his  voice  was  clear 
to  the  last.  At  the  conclusion,  and  after  the  "  Trial 
from  Pickwick,"  in  which  the  speeches  of  the  oppos- 
ing counsel,  and  the  owlish  gravity  of  the  judge, 
seemed  to  be  delivered  and  depicted  with  greater 
dramatic  power  than  ever,  the  applause  of  the  audi- 
ence rang  for  several  minutes  through  the  hall,  and 
when  it  had  subsided,  Mr.  Dickens,  with  evidently 


3X8  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1870. 

strong  emotion,  but  in  his  usual  distinct  and  impres- 
sive manner,  spoke  as  follows  : — 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen, — It  would  be  worse  than 
idle — for  it  would  be  hypocritical  and  unfeeling — 
if  I  were  to  disguise  that  I  close  this  episode  in  my 
life  with  feelings  of  very  considerable  pain.  For 
some  fifteen  years,  in  this  hall  and  in  many  kindred 
places,  I  have  had  the  honour  of  presenting  my  own 
cherished  ideas  before  you  for  your  recognition,  and, 
in  closely  observing  your  reception  of  them,  have 
enjoyed  an  amount  of  artistic  delight  and  instruction 
which,  perhaps,  is  given  to  few  men  to  know.  In 
this  task,  and  in  every  other  I  have  ever  undertaken, 
as  a  faithful  servant  of  the  public,  always  imbued 
with  a  sense  of  duty  to  them,  and  always  striving  to 
do  his  best,  I  have  been  uniformly  cheered  by  the 
readiest  response,  the  most  generous  sympathy,  and 
the  most  stimulating  support.  Nevertheless,  I  have 
thought  it  well,  at  the  full  flood-tide  of  your  favour, 
to  retire  upon  those  older  associations  between  us, 
which  date  from  much  further  back  than  these,  and 
henceforth  to  devote  myself  exclusively  to  the  art 
that  first  brought  us  together.  Ladies  and  gentlemen, 
in  but  two  short  weeks  from  this  time  I  hope  that 
you  may  enter,  in  your  own  homes,  on  a  new  series 
of  readings,  at  which  my  assistance  will  be  indis- 
pensable ;*  but  from  these  garish  lights  I  vanish  now 
for  evermore,  with  a  heartfelt,  grateful,  respectful,  and 
affectionate  farewell." 
*  Alluding  to  the  forthcoming  serial  story  of  "  Edwin  Drood.'* 


iSjo.]  FAILING  HEALTH.  319 

The  Speaker  then  retired,  amidst  acclamations  of 
the  most  enthusiastic  description,  hats  and  handker- 
chiefs being  waved  in  every  part  of  the  hall. 

Since  the  illustrious  author's  decease,  this  address 
has  acquired  a  peculiar  significance  by  reason  of  that 
almost  prophetic  line  :  ''From  these  garish  lights  I 
vanish  now  for  evermore." 

Shortly  after,  on  April  5,  he  was  with  his  friends 
the  Newsvendors,  presiding  at  the  annual  dinner  of 
their  Benevolent  and  Provident  Institution,  He  was 
in  excellent  spirits,  and  his  speech  upon  the  occasion 
was  a  most  humorous  one.  Those  who  were  present 
will  remember  with  what  inimitable  gravity  he  told 
this  story  : — 

"  I  was  once  present  at  a  social  discussion,  which 
originated  by  chance.  The  subject  was,  '  What  was 
the  most  absorbing  and  longest-lived  passion  in  the 
human  breast .''  What  was  the  passion  so  powerful 
that  it  would  almost  induce  the  generous  to  be  mean, 
the  careless  to  be  cautious,  the  guileless  to  be  deeply 
designing,  and  the  dove  to  emulate  the  serpent  ?  * 
A  daily  editor  of  vast  experience  and  great  acuteness, 
who  was  one  of  the  company,  considerably  surprised 
us  by  saying  with  the  greatest  confidence  that  the 
passion  in  question  was  the  passion  of  getting  orders 
for  the  play. 

*'  There  had  recently  been  a  terrible  shipwreck,  and 
very  few  of  the  surviving  sailors  had  escaped  in  an 
open  boat.  One  of  these  on  making  land  came 
straight  to  London,  and  straight  to  the  newspaper 


320'  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1870. 

office,  with  his  story  of  how  he  had  seen  the  ship  go 
down  before  his  eyes.  That  young  man  had  witnessed 
the  most  terrible  contention  between  the  powers  of 
fire  and  water  for  the  destruction  of  that  ship  and  of 
every  one  on  board.  He  had  rowed  away  among  the 
floating,  dying,  and  the  sinking  dead.  He  had  floated 
by  day,  and  he  had  frozen  by  night,  with  no  shelter 
and  no  food,  and,  as  he  told  this  dismal  tale,  he  rolled 
his  haggard  eyes  about  the  room.  When  he  had 
finished,  and  the  tale  had  been  noted  down  from  his 
lips,  he  was  cheered,  and  refreshed,  and  soothed,  and 
asked  if  anything  could  be  done  for  him.  Even 
within  him  that  master  passion  was  so  strong  that  he 
immediately  replied  he  should  like  an  order  for  the 
play." 

"  One  of  his  latest  acts  in  the  way  of  business," 
Mr.  Hingston  writes  to  us,  "was  in  relation  to  Miss 
Glyn,  and  her  then  approaching  reading  at  St.  James's 
Hall,  with  her  departure  for  Australia.  I  persuaded 
Miss  Glyn,  some  five  weeks  since,  to  take  a  trip  to 
Australia,  and  I  drew  out  a  form  of  agreement. 
Dickens  took  great  interest  in  her  welfare  ;  the 
agreement  had  to  be  submitted  to  him.  It  was  sent 
back  with  his  annotations  and  suggestions,  all  of 
which  were  eminently  practical,  and  very  illustrative 
of  his  keen  business  abilities.  He  acted  as  a  lawyer 
would  for  a  client." 

Towards  the  end  of  the  month  he  again  became 
indisposed.  A  promise  that  he  had  made  to  dine 
at  the  annual  dinner  of  the  General  Theatrical  Fund 


1870.]  FAILING  HEALTH.  321 

he  found  himself  unable  to  keep,  and  at  the  last 
moment  he  telegraphed  that  he  was  too  unwell  to 
attend.  Two  days  later  he  sent  a  short  note  to  one 
of  his  intimates,  postponing  a  little  expedition  which 
had  been  arranged,  and  stating  that  the  old  enemy  in 
his  foot  was  again  causing  him  annoyance. 

On  2nd  May  he  was  better — sufficiently  well, 
indeed,  to  accept  the  invitation  of  his  artist  friends, 
and  to  dine  with  them  at  the  opening  of  the  Royal 
Academy. 

Mr.  Arthur  Locker  writes  : — ''  The  last  time  I  saw 
him  was  a  few  weeks  since,  when  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  meeting  him  at  dinner.  To  all  outward  appear- 
ance he  then  looked  like  a  man  who  would  live  and 
work  until  he  was  fourscore.  I  was  especially  struck 
by  the  brilliancy  and  vivacity  of  his  eyes.  There 
seemed  as  much  life  and  animation  in  them  as  in 
twenty  ordinary  pairs  of  eyes." 

It  was  at  the  Academy  dinner  that  he  made  his 
last  public  speech,  and  his  concluding  words  upon 
this  occasion  were  a  tribute  to  the  memory  of  his 
dear  friend,  Daniel  Maclise,  then  recently  deceased  : — 
"  Since,"  he  said,  "  I  first  entered  the  public  lists,  a 
very  young  man  indeed,  it  has  been  my  constant 
fortune  to  number  amongst  my  nearest  and  dearest 
friends  members  of  the  Royal  Academy  who  have 
been  its  grace  and  pride.  They  have  so  dropped 
from  my  side,  one  by  one,  that  I  already  begin  to 
feel  like  the  Spanish  monk,  of  whom  Wilkie  tells, 
who  had   grown   to  believe  that   the   only  realities 

X 


322  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1S70. 

around  lilm  were  the  pictures  which  he  loved,  and 
that  all  the  moving  life  he  saw,  or  ever  had  seen,  was 
a  shadow  and  a  dream. 

''  For  many  years  I  was  one  of  the  two  most  in- 
timate friends  and  most  constant  companions  of  the 
late  Mr.  Maclise.  Of  his  genius  in  his  chosen  art  I 
will  venture  to  say  nothing  here,  but  of  his  prodigious 
fertility  of  mind,  and  wonderful  Avealth  of  intellect,  I 
may  confidently  assert  that  they  would  have  made 
him,  if  he  had  been  so  minded,  at  least  as  great  a 
writer  as  he  was  a  painter.  The  gentlest  and  most 
modest  of  men,  the  freshest  as  to  his  generous  ap- 
preciation of  young  aspirants,  and  the  frankest  and 
largest-hearted  as  to  his  peers,  incapable  of  a  sordid 
or  ignoble  thought,  gallantly  sustaining  the  true 
dignity  of  his  vocation,  without  one  grain  of  self- 
ambition,  wholesomely  natural  at  the  last  as  at  the 
first,  '  in  wit  a  man,  simplicity  a  child,'  no  artist,  of 
whatever  denomination,  I  make  bold  to  say,  ever 
went  to  his  rest  leaving  a  golden  memory  more  pure 
from  dross,  or  having  devoted  himself  with  a  truer 
chivalry  to  the  art  goddess  whom  he  worshipped." 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

INTERVIEW    WITH    THE    QUEEN. — LAST    ILLNESS.— 
DEATH. — BURIAL  IN  WESTMINSTER  ABBEY. 


NLY  since  the  death  of  Mr.  Dickens  Is  It  that 
the  high  respect  in  which  Her  Majesty  has 
ahvays  held  the  great  noveHst  and  his  writ- 
ings has  become  generally  known,  but  for  many  years 
past  our  Queen  has  taken  the  liveliest  interest  in  his 
literary  labours,  and  has  frequently  expressed  a  desire 
for  an  interview  with  him.  And  here  it  may  not  be 
tmlnteresting  to  mention  a  circumstance  in  illustration 
of  Her  Majesty's  regard  for  her  late  distinguished 
subject  which  came  under  the  writer's  personal  notice. 
Six  years  ago,  just  before  the  library  of  Mr.  Thackeray 
was  sold  off  at  Palace  Green,  Kensington,  a  catalogue 
of  the  books  was  sent  to  Her  Majesty — In  all  proba- 
bility by  her  request.  She  desired  some  memorial  of 
the  great  man,  and  preferred  to  make  her  own 
selection  by  purchase  rather  than  ask  the  family  for 
any  memento  by  way  of  gift.  There  Avere  books 
with  odd  drawings  from  Thackeray's  pen  and  pencil; 

X  2 


324  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1870. 

there  were  others  crammed  with  MS.  notes,  but  there 
was  one  lot  thus  described  in  the  catalogue  : — 

Dickens  (C.)  A  Christmas  Carol,  in  prose,  1843  ; 
Presentation  Copy, 

INSCRIBED 

"  W.  M.  Thackeray,  front  diaries  Dickens  (ivhoni  he 
made  very  happy  once  a  long  way  from  home)!' 

Her  Majesty  expressed  the  strongest  desire  to 
possess  this,  and  sent  an  unlimited  commission  to  buy 
it.  The  original  published  price  of  the  book  was  5  s. 
It  became  Her  Majesty's  property  for  £2^  los.,  and 
was  at  once  taken  to  the  palace. 

The  personal  interview  Her  Majesty  had  long 
expressed  a  desire  to  have  with  Mr.  Dickens  took 
place  on  the  9th  April,  1870,  when  he  received  her 
commands  to  attend  her  at  Buckingham  Palace,  and 
accordingly  did  so,  being  introduced  by  his  friend, 
Mr.  Arthur  Helps,  the  Clerk  of  the  Privy  Council. 

The  interview  was  a  lengthened  one,  and  most 
satisfactory  to  both.  In  the  course  of  it  Her  Majesty 
expressed  to  him  her  warm  interest  in  and  admiration 
of  his  works,  and  on  parting  presented  him  with  a 
copy  of  her  own  book,  "  Our  Life  in  the  Highlands," 
with  an  autograph  inscription,  ''  Victoria  R.  to  Charles 
Dickens,"  on  the  flyleaf;  at  the  same  time  making  a 
charmingly  modest  and  graceful  remark  as  to  the 
relative  positions  occupied  in  the  world  of  letters  by 
the  donor  and  the  recipient  of  the  book. 

Soon  after  his  return  home,  he  sent  to  Her  Majesty 


1870.]  INTERVIEW   WITH   THE  QUEEN.  325 

an  edition  of  his  collected  works ;  and  when  the 
Clerk  of  the  Council  recently  went  to  Balmoral 
the  Queen,  knowing  the  friendship  that  existed 
between  Mr.  Dickens  and  Mr.  Helps,  showed  the 
latter  where  she  had  placed  the  gift  of  the  great 
novelist.  This  was  in  her  own  private  library,  in 
order  that  she  might  always  see  the  books  ;  and  Her 
Majesty  expressed  her  desire  that  Mr.  Helps  should 
inform  the  great  novelist  of  this  arrangement.* 

Since  our  author's  decease,  the  journal  with  which 
he  was  formerly  connected  has  said  : — 

"  We  were  not  at  liberty  at  that  time  to  make 
known  that  the  QuEEN  was  then  personally  occupied 
with  the  consideration  of  some  means  by  which  she 
might,  in  her  public  capacity,  express  her  sense  of 
the  value  of  Mr.  DiCKENS'S  services  to  his  country 
and  to  literature.  It  may  now  be  stated  that  the 
Queen  was  ready  to  confer  any  distinction  which 
Mr.  Dickens's  known  views  and  tastes  would  permit 
him  to  accept,  and  that  after  more  than  one  title  of 
honour  had  been  declined,  Her  Majesty  desired 
that  he  would,  at  least,  accept  a  place  in  her  Privy 
Council." 

Three  days  before  this  he  had  attended  the  levee, 
and  been  presented  to  her  son  H.  R.  H.  The  Prince 

*  Immediately  on  his  return  from  Balmoral,  Mr.  Helps 
wrote  to  Mr.  Dickens,  in  pursuance  of  Her  Majesty's  desire  ;  but 
the  letter  that  contained  so  remarkable  a  tribute  to  the  great 
novelist  could  only  have  reached  Gad's  Hill  while  he  lay  uncon- 
scious and  dying. 


326  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1870- 

of  Wales,  introduced  by  the  Earl  De  Grey  and 
Ripon. 

His  daughter,  Miss  Dickens,  was  presented  at 
Court  to  Her  Majesty  on  the  loth  of  the  following 
month,  introduced  by  the  Countess  Russell. 

As  recently  as  the  17th  of  May  last,  among  tlie 
names  appearing  in  the  Court  Ciradar  as  having 
attended  the  State  Ball  at  Buckingham  Palace  on 
that  day,  were  those  of  Mr.  and  Miss  Dickens. 

The  fact  of  Mr.  Dickens  going  more  into  society 
than  usual  during  the  past  spring,  and  entertaining 
his  friends — always  with  the  utmost  hospitality — 
rather  more  frequently  than  was  his  custom,  had 
been  observed  by  those  who  knew  him.  But  he  con- 
tinued to  complain  that  he  was  not  well,  and  when  he 
felt  a  little  of  his  old  robust  health  returning  to  him 
he  seemed  to  desire  the  recreation  of  society,  the 
company  of  friends.  Literary  composition  was  a 
task — not  a  pleasure,  as  formerly. 

As  showing  his  great  fondness  for  the  stage,  it 
may  be  mentioned,  that  almost  the  last — if  not 
the  very  last — occasion  on  which  he  appeared  in 
London  society,  was  in  connection  with  an  ex- 
hibition of  amateur  theatricals  given  at  the  house  of 
Mr.  Freake,  at  South  Kensington,  only  a  very  few 
days  before  his  death. 

"  The  Mystery  of  Edwin  Drood,"  we  are  told,  gave 
its  author  more  trouble  than  any  of  his  former  works. 
He  complained  of  this,  perhaps  with  a  sad  presage  of 
the  truth.     He  had,  he  thought,  told  too  much  of  the 


1870.]  LAST  ILLNESS.  327 

story  In  the  early  numbers,  and  his  thoughts  did  not 
flow  so  freely  as  of  yore. 

The  personal  friend,  who  has  before  assisted  us 
with  his  reminiscences,  shall  tell  the  rest : — 

"  Unquestionably  he  had  very  much  aged  in 
appearance  during  the  two  previous  years ;  the 
thought-graven  lines  in  his  face  were  deeper,  the 
beard  and  hair  v/ere  more  grizzled,  the  complexion 
ruddier,  but  not  so  healthy  in  hue.  He  walked,  too, 
less  and  less  actively — latterly,  indeed,  dragging  one 
leg  rather  wearily  behind  him.  But  he  maintained 
the  bluff,  frank,  hearty  presence,  and  the  deep  cheery 
voice  ;  his  hand,  given  to  his  friend,  had  all  its  affec- 
tionate grip,  and  the  splendid  beauty  of  the  dark 
eyes  remained  undimmed  to  the  last. 

"  Hov/  that  last  came  about  is  now  well  known. 
He  returned  homiC  to  Gad's  Hill,  v/here,  during  his 
absence,  some  ornamental  alterations,  which  he  had 
previously  planned,  had  been  carried  out,  on  Tuesday, 
the  31st  of  May.  He  vv^as  not  then  in  good  health, 
and  complained  that  his  work  fatigued  and  worried 
him.  On  Wednesday,  while  sitting  at  dinner 
with  his  sister-in-law.  Miss  Hogarth,  a  change  came 
over  the  expression  of  his  face,  which  alarmed  his 
companion.  She  proposed  to  send  for  medical  assis- 
tance, but  he  refused,  putting  his  hand  to  his  face, 
complaining  of  toothache,  and  desiring  that  the 
window  might  be  shut.  It  was  shut  at  once,  and  he 
rose  to  leave  the  room,  but  after  taking  a  few  steps, 
he  fell  heavily  on  his  left  side,  and  remained  uncon- 


323  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS,  [1870. 

scious  until  his  death,  which  took  place  at  ten  minutes 
past  six,  on  Thursday,  June  9,  1870,  just  twenty- 
four  hours  after  the  attack.  Medical  assistance  had 
been  summoned  ;  Mr.  Frank  Beard,  Mr.  Steele,  of 
Strood,  and  Dr.  Russell  Reynolds  all  saw  him,  but 
he  was  beyond  the  reach  of  science. 


*'  He  died  of  apoplexy — an  effusion  of  blood  on 
the  brain — and  an  attack  of  this  kind  must  have 
been  apprehended  by  Mr.  Frank  Beard,  when  he 
caused  such  prompt  and  decisive  measures  to  be 
taken  last  year  at  Preston." 

That  he  died  from  overwork  is  now  too  clear.  The 
day  preceding  his  death  had  been  passed  at  the  desk 
in  literary  composition  and  correspondence,  and 
already  three  letters  written  by  him  on  that  day 
have  been  published. 

Only  a  few  weeks  before  he  wrote  to  a  friend  : — **  I 
have  '  placed '  your  touching  poem,  '  The  God's  Acre,' 
which  will  appear  in  the  next  number."  The  poem 
describes  a  very  old  man,  and  a  very  young  child,  in 
a  churchyard,  on  a  sunny  Sunday  ;  the  old  man 
reflecting,  the  child  gathering  flowers  ;  and  predicts 
that,  as  the  "  old,  old  fruit  has  ripened,  death  will  not 
tarry  long."  Contrary  to  probability,  it  is  the  little 
child  that  dies  within  a  few  days,  and  not  the  octo- 
genarian. The  verses  conclude  with  a  reflection  that, 
in  the  after-light  shed  upon  it  by  Dickens's  early 
death,  possesses  a  mournful  interest : — 


1870.]  DEA  TH.  329 

**  Whom  the  gods  love  die  early  : 

Our  Father  knoweth  best. 
And  it  is  wrong  to  murmur 

At  the  high  behest. 
Sleep  gently,  blighted  blossom  ; 

Sleep,  and  take  thy  rest." 


When  Mr.  Helps  received  the  news  of  Dickens's 
death  he  immediately  telegraphed  the  fact  to  Her 
Majesty,  at  Balmoral,  and  received  the  subjoined 
sympathetic  response,  *'  From  Colonel  Ponsonby  to 
Mr.  Helps,  Council  Office — The  Queen  commands 
me  to  express  her  deepest  regret  at  the  sad  news  of 
Charles  Dickens's  death." 

He  died  on  the  anniversary  of  the  dreadful  Staple- 
hurst  railway  accident,  and  the  shock  his  nerves 
received  on  that  occasion  it  is  believed  he  never  en- 
tirely got  over. 

"  The  friends  in  the  habit  of  meeting  Mr.  Dickens 
privately,  recall  now  the  energy  with  which  he  depicted 
that  dreadful  scene,  and  how,  as  the  climax  of  his 
story  came,  and  its  dread  interest  grew,  he  would  rise 
from  the  table,  and  literally  act  the  parts  of  the 
various  sufferers  to  whom  he  lent  a  helping  hand. 
One  of  the  first  surgeons  of  the  day,  who  was  present 
soon  after  the  Staplehurst  occurrence,  remarked  that 
'  the  worst  of  these  railway  accidents  was  the  diffi- 
culty of  determining  the  period  at  which  the  system 
could  be  said  to  have  survived  the  shock,  and  that 
instances  were  on  record  of  two  or  three  years  having 


330  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1870. 

gone  by  before  the  sufferer  knew  that  he  was  seriously 
hurt.' " 

As  if  with  a  presentiment  of  what  was  coming,  he 
completed  his  will  just  seven  days  before  he  was 
struck  down.  After  his  wishes  had  been  put  into 
legal  form  by  his  solicitors,  he  copied  out  the  entire 
document  in  his  own  handwriting.  By  a  codicil  to  this 
document  he  bequeathed  the  whole  of  his  interest  in 
All  the  Year  Round  \.o  his  acting  editor  and  eldest 
son,  coupling  the  bequest  with  such  private  instruc- 
tions as  would,  he  believed,  ensure  the  character  and 
merit  of  the  periodical  remaining  unchanged  after  he 
had  gone.  Mr.  John  Forster,  who  had  been  on  Inti- 
mate terms  with  Dickens  for  more  than  thirty  years, 
and  Miss  Hogarth,  his  sister-in-law,  and  "the  best 
friend  I  ever  had,"  to  use  his  own  words,  were  his 
appointed  executors. 

His  affairs  have  been  left  in  perfect  order — in  that 
order  which,  to  the  great  man  throughout  life,  was 
law.  Concerning  the  disposition  of  his  remains  clear 
instructions  were  also  left  behind.  He  desired  no 
publicity  about  his  funeral,  none  of  the  well-meant 
assembling  of  friends  when  his  remains  should  be 
committed  to  the  earth.  It  Is  understood  that  he 
had  expressed  a  wish  to  lie  in  his  own  favourite 
Rochester,  as  near  as  possible  to  the  ruins  of  the 
old  castle  there,  and  In  a  spot  which  he  had 
already  pointed  out.  The  burial-ground  referred  to 
is  adjacent  to  the  walls  of  the  castle,  and  belongs  to 
the  parish  of  St.  Nicholas,  Rochester.     It  has  been 


1870.J  DEA  TIL  331 

closed  for  some  time,  and  for  it  to  be  re-opened  per- 
mission of  the  Secretary  of  State  would  have  to  be 
obtained. 

But  immediately  following  the  sad  intelligence  of 
his  death  came  the  universally  expressed  desire  that 
his  remains  should  rest  in  Westminster  Abbey — in 
that  Poet's  Corner  which  has  been  consecrated  to  the 
greatest,  the  wisest,  the  best  of  our  countrymen. 
Dean  Stanley  at  once  communicated  with  the 
family,  and  in  an  interview  with  Mr.  Charles  Dickens, 
jun.,  begged  that  the  national  wish  might  be  complied 
with.  This  was  on  the  Friday.  From  that  time 
until  Monday  evening  the  matter  was  under  earnest 
consideration.  Mr.  Dickens's  family  took  counsel 
with  their  father's  dearest  and  oldest  friends,  and 
after  due  deliberation  and  consultation  on  the 
terms  of  the  written  instructions  they  held,  asked 
the  Dean  of  Westminster  whether  it  would  be 
possible  to  have  certain  conditions  complied  with 
if  they  consented  that  the  interment  should  be  at 
Westminster  } 

The  answer  was  satisfactory,  and  arrangements 
were  at  once  made  for  the  funeral  to  take  place  in 
the  most  private  manner  possible,  on  the  following 
day,  Tuesday,  the  14th  June,  1870.  A  special  train, 
bearing  his  remains,  left  Rochester  early  in  the 
morning.  At  the  Charing  Cross  station  a  waiting 
room  had  been  set  apart  for  the  mourners,  and  on  the 
arrival  of  the  body,  three  plain  mourning  coaches, 
having  none  of  the  feathers  or  dismal  frippery  of  the 


332  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1870. 

undertaker,  drew  up  to  receive  those  personal  friends 
and  relatives  who  were  to  witness  the  burial  of  the 
great  man.  In  coming  to  the  Abbey,  in  the  first 
coach  were  the  late  Mr.  Dickens's  children,  Mr. 
Charles  Dickens,  jun.,  Mr.  Harry  Dickens,  Miss 
Dickens,  Mrs.  Charles  Collins.  In  the  second  coach 
were  Mrs.  Austin,  his  sister ;  Mrs.  Charles  Dickens, 
jun.  ;  Miss  Hogarth,  his  sister-in-law ;  Mr.  John 
Forster.  In  the  third  coach,  Mr.  Frank  Beard,  his 
medical  attendant ;  Mr.  Charles  Collins,  his  son-in- 
law  ;  Mr.  Ouvry,  his  solicitor  ;  Mr.  Wilkie  Collins ; 
Mr.  Edmund  Dickens,  his  nephew. 

Upon  reaching  the  Abbey,  the  doors  were  imme- 
diately closed  and  the  coaches  dismissed.  The  cere- 
mony was  at  once  proceeded  with.  The  Dean  read 
our  solemn  burial  service  in  a  manner  which  showed 
how  strong  were  his  own  emotions  ;  and  the  great 
organ  chimed  subdued  and  low.  The  solemnity  of 
the  scene  was  indeed  striking — the  vast  place  empty, 
save  for  the  little  group  of  heart-stricken  people  by 
an  open  grave.  A  plain  oak  coffin,  with  a  brass  plate 
bearing  the  inscription — 

CHARLES   DICKENS, 

Born  February  ^th,  1812, 

Died  June  9TH,  1870, 

a  coffin  strewed  with  wreaths  and  flowers  by  the 
female  mourners,  and  then — dust  to  dust  and  ashes 
to  ashes  ! — such  was  the  funeral  of  the  great  man  who 


iSjo.]  BURIAL  IN    WESTMINSTER  ABBEY.  333 

has  gone.  There  were  no  cloaks,  no  crapes,  no  bands 
or  scarves — none  of  that  mocking  paraphernalia  of 
the  professional  undertaker  which  Dickens  so  strongly 
objected  to.  When  the  subject  of  his  funeral  was 
being  discussed,  Mr.  Oilier  told  us  how  strongly  the 
great  man  had  objected  to  take  part  in  the  ceremony 
which  was  performed  over  the  grave  of  Leigh  Hunt, 
in  Kensal  Green,  during  the  past  summer. 

"In  August  last,"  writes  Mr.  Oilier,  one  of  the 
honorary  secretaries  of  the  Leigh  Hunt  Memorial 
Fund,  "I  requested  Mr.  Dickens  to  inaugurate  the 
monument  in  Kensal  Green  Cemetery,  and  to  deliver 
a  short  address  on  the  spot — a  task  which  was  after- 
wards excellently  performed  by  Lord  Houghton." 
To  this  the  great  novelist  replied  : — "  My  dear  Mr. 
Oilier, — I  am  very  sensible  of  the  feeling  of  the  com- 
mittee towards  me,  and  I  receive  their  invitation 
(conveyed  through  you)  as  a  most  acceptable  mark 
of  their  consideration.  But  I  have  a  very  strong 
objection  to  speech-making  beside  graves.  I  do  not 
expect  or  wish  my  feeling  in  this  wise  to  guide  other 
men  ;  still,  it  is  so  serious  with  me,  and  the  idea  of 
ever  being  the  subject  of  such  a  ceremony  myself 
is  so  repugnant  to  my  soul,  that  I  must  decline 
to  officiate. — Faithfully  yours  always,  Charles 
Dickens.     Edmund  Oilier,  Esq." 

But  the  most  energetic  prot'est  against  the  hideous 
fineries  of  the  undertaker  is  to  be  found  in  an  article 
entitled  "Trading  in  Death,"  which  appeared  in 
Household    Words,   about-  November,    1852.      It   is 


334  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1870. 

not  generally  known  that  this  article — which  pro- 
duced much  comment  at  the  time — came  from  his 
pen. 

On  Sunday,  the  19th  June,  Dean  Stanley  preached 
the  funeral  sermon  in  Westminster  Abbey.  An 
announcement  to  this  effect  had  been  made  in  the 
daily  journals,  and  long  before  the  hour  appointed  for 
the  service  a  vast  body  of  people  had  assembled  at 
the  doors.  Immediately  these  were  opened  every 
available  seat  was  taken,  and  many  thousands 
of  persons  remained  in  distant  parts  of  the  building 
until  the  conclusion  of  the  sermon.  Amonp-st  the 
many  distinguished  individuals  present,  the  two 
who  attracted  most  notice  were  the  Poet  Laureate 
and  Mr.  Thomas  Carlyle.  Mr.  Dickens  ever 
respected  the  great  genius  of  Tennyson,  and  the 
poet  has  always  expressed  the  highest  admiration  for 
the  writings  of  Charles  Dickens.  It  was  fitting, 
therefore,  that  the  surviving  author  should  be  present 
at  this  last  ceremony  over  the  great  novelist's  remains. 
The  poet  was  accommodated  with  a  seat  inside  the 
sacrarium ;  Mr.  Carlyle  sat  in  the  body  of  the 
building.  The  family  and  relations  of  Mr.  Dickens 
were  in  the  gallery  to  the  north  of  Poet's  Corner. 
Dean  Stanley  was  not  well ;  indeed,  he  had  for  some 
days  been  complaining  of  severe  indisposition,  but,  in 
spite  of  physical  weakness,  he  determined  to  carry  out 
the  duty  of  the  day.  He  took  as  his  text  the  verses 
in  the  15th  and  i6th  chapters  of  St.  Luke,  which 
embody  the  parable  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus  : — 


1870.]  BURIAL   IN    WESTMINSTER  ABBEY.  335 

"  He  spoke  this  parable.  There  was  a  certain  rich  man 
which  was  clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen  and  fared 
sumptuously  every  day.  And  there  was  a  certain 
beggar  named  Lazarus,  which  was  laid  at  his  gate 
full  of  sores,  and  desiring  to  be  fed  with  the  crumbs 
that  fell  from  the  rich  man's  table.  And  moreover 
dogs  came  and  licked  his  sores." 

The  eloquent  and  impressive  sermon  which  followed 
was  listened  to  with  breathless  attention,  and  many 
a  cheek  was  moist  with  tears  during  its  progress. 
There  was  in  the  whole  scene  something  unusually 
impressive  —  the  enormous  congregation  covering 
every  inch  of  ground  in  choir,  and  sacrarium,  and 
transepts  ;  the  unbroken  silence,  or  broken  only  by 
sobs ;  the  careworn,  delicate  face  and  attenuated 
form  of  the  preacher,  struggling  against  overwhelm- 
ing bodily  weakness  to  reach  the  congregation  that 
hunsc  on  his  li'os. 

O  J. 

After  commenting  at  some  length  upon  the  parable 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  especially  upon  the  one 
selected  for  their  consideration  that  morning,  the 
preacher  thus  applied  the  text : — 

"  It  is  said  to  have  been  the  distinguishing  glory 
of  a  famous  Spanish  saint  that  she  was  the  advocate 
of  the  absent.  That  is  precisely  the  advocacy  of  this 
divine  parable,  and  of  those  modern  parables  which 
most  represent  its  spirit — the  advocacy,  namely,  of 
the  poor,  the  absent,  the  neglected,  of  the  weaker 
side,  whom,  not  seeing,  we  are  tempted  to  forget.  It 
was  the  part  of  him  whom  we  have  lost  to  make  the 


33^  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1870. 

rich  man,  faring  sumptuously  every  day,  not  fail  to 
see  the  presence  of  the  poor  man  at  his  gate.  The 
suffering  inmates  of  our  workhouses — the  neglected 
children  in  the  dens  and  caves  of  this  great  city — the 
starved  ill-used  boys  in  remote  schools,  far  from  the 
observation  of  men — these  all  felt  a  new  ray  of  sun- 
shine poured  into  their  dark  prisons,  and  a  new 
interest  awakened  in  their  forlorn  and  desolate  lot, 
because  an  unknown  friend  had  pleaded  their  cause 
with  a  voice  that  rang  through  the  palaces  of  the 
great  as  well  as  through  the  cottages  of  the  poor. 
In  his  pages,  with  gaunt  figures  and  hollow  voices, 
they  were  made  to  stand  and  speak  before  those  who 
had  before  hardly  dreamed  of  their  existence.  But 
was  it  mere  compassion  which  this  created  }  The 
same  master  hand  which  drew  the  sorrows  of  the 
English  poor  drew  also  the  picture  of  the  unselfish- 
ness, the  kindness,  the  courageous  patience,  and  the 
tender  thoughtfulness  that  lie  concealed  under  many 
a  coarse  exterior,  and  are  to  be  found  in  many  a 
degraded  home.  When  the  little  workhouse  boy 
wins  his  way,  pure  and  undefiled,  through  the  mass 
of  v/ickedness  around  him. — when  the  little  orphan 
girl,  who  brings  thoughts  of  Heaven  into  the  hearts 
of  all  around  her,  is  as  the  very  gift  of  God  to  the 
old  man  who  sheltered  her  life — these  are  scenes 
which  no  human  being  can  read  without  being  the 
better  for  it.  He  laboured  to  teach  us  that  there  is 
even  in  the  worst  of  mankind  a  soul  of  goodness 
— a   soul  worth  revealing,  worth  reclaiming,  worth 


1870.]  FUNERAL  SERMON.  337 

regenerating.      He  laboured  to  teach  the  rich  and 

educated  how  this  better  side  was  to  be  found,  even 

in  the  most  neglected  Lazarus,  and  to  tell  the  poor 

no  less  to  respect  this  better  part  of  themselves — to 

remember  that  they  also  have  a  calling  to  be  good 

and  great,  if  they  will  but  hear  it. 

***** 

"  There  is  one  more  thought  that  arises  on  this  occa- 
sion. As,  in  the  parable,  we  are  forcibly  impressed 
with  the  awful  solemnity  of  the  other  world,  so  on 
this  day  a  feeling  rises  in  us,  before  which  the  most 
brilliant  powers  of  genius  and  the  most  lively  sallies 
of  wit  wax  faint.  When,  on  Tuesday  last,  we  stood 
beside  that  open  grave,  in  the  still  deep  silence  of  the 
summer  morning,  in  the  midst  of  this  vast  solitary 
space,  broken  only  by  that  small  band  of  fourteen 
mourners,  it  was  impossible  not  to  feel  that  there  is 
something  more  sacred  than  any  worldly  glory,  how- 
ever bright — or  than  any  mausoleum,  however  mighty 
— and  that  is  the  return  of  the  human  soul  into  the 
hands  of  its  Maker.  Many,  many  are  the  feet  that 
have  trodden,  and  will  tread,  the  consecrated  ground 
around  his  grave.  Many,  many  are  the  hearts  which, 
both  in  the  old  world  and  the  new,  are  drawn  towards 
it  as  towards  the  resting  place  of  a  dear  personal 
friend.  Many  are  the  flowers  that  have  been  strewn 
— many  the  tears  that  have  been  shed — by  the  grateful 
affection  of  the  poor  that  have  cried — of  the  father- 
less— and  of  those  that  have  none  to  help  them. 
May  I  speak  to  them  a  few  sacred  words,  that  will 

Y 


338  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.  [1870. 

come  perhaps  with  a  new  meaning  and  a  deeper 
force,  because  they  come  from  the  lips  of  their  lost 
friend — because  they  are  the  most  solemn  utterances 
of  lips  now  closed  for  ever  in  the  grave  ?  They  are 
extracted  from  the  will  of  Charles  Dickens,  dated 
May  12,  1869,  and  will  now  be  heard  by  many  for 
the  first  time.  After  the  most  emphatic  injunctions  re- 
specting the  inexpensive,  unostentatious,  and  strictly 
private  manner  of  his  funeral — injunctions  which 
have  been  carried  out  to  the  very  letter — he  thus 
continues : — 

"  'I  direct  that  my  name  be  inscribed  in  plain  E^iglish 
letters  on  my  tomb.  I  coiijure  my  friends  on  no 
aceoimt  to  make  me  the  subject  of  any  monnmenty 
^memorial,  or  testimonial  whatever.  I  rest  my  claim 
to  the  remembrance  of  my  country  on  my  published 
works  J  and  to  the  remembrance  of  my  friends  in  their 
expericjtce  of  me  in  addition  thereto.  I  commit  my  sold 
to  the  mercy  of  God,  through  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ ;  and  I  exhort  my  dear  cJiildrcn  humbly 
to  try  to  guide  themselves  by  the  teacJiing  of  the  New 
Testament,  in  its  broad  spirit,  and  to  put  no  faith  in 
any  mans  narroiv  construction  of  its  letter  here  or 
there! 

"  In  that  simple  but  sufficient  faith  he  lived  and 
died.  In  that  simple  and  sufficient  faith  he  bids  you 
live  and  die.  If  any  of  you  have  learnt  from  his 
works  the  value — the  eternal  value — of  generosity,  of 
purity,  of  kindness,  of  unselfishness,  and  have  learnt 
to   show  these  in  your  own  hearts  and  lives,  then 


1870.]  HIS  LAST  RESTING  PLACE.  339 

remember  that  these  are  the  best  monuments, 
memorials,  and  testimonials  of  the  friend  whom  you 
have  loved,  and  who  loved  with  a  marvellous  and 
exceeding  love  his  children,  his  country,  and  his 
fellow-men.  These  are  monuments  which  he  would 
not  refuse,  and  which  the  humblest  and  poorest 
and  youngest  here  have  it  in  their  power  to  raise  to 
his  memory." 

The  beautiful  anthem,  "  When  the  ear  heard  him," 
was  then  sung,  and  the  remainder  of  the  service  was 
gone  through.  The  dispersion  of  the  congregation 
was  a  work  of  time,  for,  although  three  doors  were 
open,  nearly  every  person  present  passed  out  by 
Poet's  Corner,  in  order  to  take  a  last  look  at  Charles 
Dickens's  grave. 

He  lies,  without  one  of  his  injunctions  respecting 
his  funeral  having  been  violated,  surrounded  by  poets 
and  men  of  genius.  Shakspeare's  marble  Q^gy  looks 
upon  his  grave  ;  at  his  feet  are  Dr.  Johnson  and 
David  Garrick  ;  his  head  is  by  Addison  and  Handel ; 
while  Oliver  Goldsmith,  Rowe,  Southey,  Campbell, 
Thomson,  Sheridan,  Macaulay,  and  Thackeray,  or 
their  memorials,  encircle  him.  Thus  "Poet's  Corner," 
the  most  familiar  spot  in  the  whole  Abbey,  has 
received  an  illustrious  addition  to  its  peculiar  glory. 
Separated  from  Dickens's  grave,  by  the  statues  of 
Shakspeare,  Southey,  and  Thomson,  and  close  by 
the  door  to  "  Poet's  Corner,"  are  the  memorials  of 
Ben  Jonson,  Dr.  Samuel  Butler,  Milton,  Spenser, 
and  Gray ;  while  Chaucer,  Dryden,  Cowley,  Mason, 

Y  2 


34° 


LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS. 


[1S70. 


Shadwell,  and  Prior  are  hard  by,  and  tell  the  by- 
stander, with  their  wealth  of  great  names,  how — 


These  poets  near  our  princes  sleep. 
And  in  one  grave  their  mansion  keep." 


A    STUDY     OF     DICKENS'S     C  H  A  R  A  C  T  E  R  S 


^• 


?»\ 


DRAWN   BY   "PHIZ"— HABLOT   K.    BROWNE, 
The  original  delineator  of  Charles  Dickens's  principal  characters. 


APPENDIX. 


'  N  D  E  R  this  heading  a  few  detached 
anecdotes,  and  some  additional  particulars^ 
are  sriven  : — 


THE  FIRST  HINT  OF  ''PICKWICK"  :— 
A  great  deal  has  been  said  as  to  the  origin 
of  "  Pickwick,"  and  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  a 
consideration  of  this  favourite  work,  the  present 
writer  has  stated  from  whence  the  name  at  least  was 
taken.  He  did  not,  however,  for  the  moment  re- 
member a  conversation  upon  the  subject  which  he 
had  with  a  friend  not  long  since,  which  conversation 
was  shortly  followed  by  a  letter  from  him  upon  this 
same  topic.  The  letter  runs  thus,  and  the  com- 
piler of  this  little  book  trusts  he  may  be  pardoned 
for  quoting  it : — 

"When  I  stated  to  you  that  Dickens  took  his 
ideal  of  novel-writing  from  the  works  of  Mr.  Pierce 
Egan,  I  had  nothing  but  internal  evidence  to  go  upon. 


342  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICA'ENS. 

When  he  began  to  write,  the  most  popular  fictions 
were  the  descriptions  of  *  Life  in  London  '  connected 
with  the  names  of  '  Tom '  and  '  Jerry. '  The  grand 
object  of  Dickens,  as  a  noveHst,  has  been  to  depict 
not  so  much  human  hfe  as  human  hfe  in  London, 
and  this  he  has  done  after  a  fashion  which  he  learnt 
from  the  '  Life  in  London '  of  Mr.  Pierce  Egan.  If 
you  remember  that  once  famous  book,  you  will  call 
to  mind  how  he  takes  his  heroes — the  everlasting 
Tom  and  Jerry — now  to  a  fencing-saloon,  now  to  a 
dancing-house,  now  to  a  chop-house,  now  to  a 
spunging-house.  The  object  is  not  to  evolve  the 
characters  of  Tom  and  Jerry,  but  to  introduce  them 
in  new  scene  after  new  scene.  And  so  you  will  find 
with  Dickens.  He  invents  new  characters,  but  he 
never  invents  them  v/ithout  at  the  same  time  invent- 
ing new  situations  and  surroundings  of  London  life. 
Other  novelists  would  not  object  to  invent  new 
characters  appearing  in  the  same  position  of  life  as 
the  characters  in  some  preceding  novel,  and  trusting 
for  novelty  to  the  newness  of  the  surroundings  and 
the  situation.  Dickens  insists  upon  putting  the  new 
characters  into  a  new  and  unexpected  trade — doll- 
making  perhaps,  or  newsvending  —  and  he  has 
always  in  view  some  new  phase  of  London  life 
which  he  is  far  more  anxious  to  exhibit  than  the 
characters  without  which  it  is  impossible  to  bring 
the  phase  into  prominence.  If  you  look  to  his 
writings,  or  if  you  talk  to  him,  you  will  find  that  his 
first   thought  is  to   find    out   something  new  about 


ANECDOTES  AND  REMINISCENCES.  343 

London  life — some  new  custom  or  trade  or  mode  of 
living — and  his  second  thought  is  to  imagine  the 
people  engaged  in  that  custom  or  trade  or  mode  of 
living.  Now  this  is  Pierce  Egan's  style — and  Dickens, 
with  rare  genius,  and  with  large  sympathies,  has 
followed  in  grooves  which  the  once  celebrated  Pierce 
laid  down.  Pierce  Egan  had  no  wit,  and  his  con- 
versations are  not  worth  mentioning.  Dickens  riots 
in  wit,  and  what  Pierce  would  have  shown  in  a 
description,  Dickens  makes  out  in  a  conversation. 
But  the  objects  of  the  two  men  to  magnify  London 
life,  and  to  show  it  in  all  its  phases,  were  the  same." 
Upon  examining  Pierce  Egan's  *'  Finish  " — a  sequel 
to  his  "  Life  in  London " — we  certainly  find  the 
characters  are  somewhat  similar  to  those  in  "  Pick- 
wick." In  other  matters,  too,  a  parallel  may  be 
drawn — thus,  the  Bench  instead  of  the  Fleet,  and 
the  archery  match  instead  of  the  shooting  party. 
But  the  most  curious  coincidence  is  that  the  "  Fat 
Knight" — the  counterpart  of  Mr.  Pickwick — is  first 
met  by  Corinthian  Tom  at  the  village  of  Pickwick  .'* 

*  The  writer  thinks  it  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  these 
remarks  upon  the  origin — the  first  hint — of"  Pickwick  "  are  not 
to  be  understood  as  intended  in  any  way  to  detract  from  the 
great  novelist's  fair  fame  for  originality.  On  the  contrary,  it 
is  believed  that  the  time  has  now  come  when  it  will  be  a 
delight  with  students  to  trace  his  reading,  and,  if  possible,  catch 
some  glimpse  of  the  origin  of  those  inimitable  cJiaracters  which 
will  live  for  ever  in  English  fiction. 


344  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS. 

DICKENS  AND  THE  ''MORNING 
CHRONICLED — Various  and  conflicting  accounts 
of  Dickens's  earliest  "  Sketches "  have  been  given, 
and  of  the  circumstances  under  which  he  first  con- 
tributed to  the  evening  edition  of  the  Morning 
Chronicle ;  but  the  following  extract,  which  we  have 
been  permitted  to  make  from  a  long  unpublished 
letter,  will  set  the  question  at  rest.  The  letter  was 
addressed  to  the  late  Mr.  George  Hogarth,  then 
connected  with  the  Morning  Chronicle,  and  was  the 
beginning  of  a  friendship  between  the  two  which 
ended  in  Mr.  Dickens  marrying  Mr.  Hogarth's 
daughter : — 

"  .  .  .  .  As  you  begged  me  to  write  an  original 
sketch  for  the  first  number  of  the  new  evening  paper, 
and  as  I  trust  to  your  kindness  to  refer  my  applica- 
tion to  the  proper  quarter,  should  I  be  unreasonably 
or  improperly  trespassing  upon  you,  I  beg  to  ask 
whether  it  is  probable  that  if  I  commenced  a  series 
of  articles,  under  some  attractive  title,  for  the  Evening 
Chronicle,  its  conductors  would  think  I  had  any  claim 
to  some  additional  remuneration — of  course,  of  no 
great  amount — for  doing  so. 

"  Let  me  beg  you  not  to  misunderstand  my  mean- 
ing. Whatever  the  reply  may  be,  I  promised  you  an 
article,  and  shall  supply  it  with  the  utmost  readiness, 
and  with  an  anxious  desire  to  do  my  best ;  which  I 
honestly  assure  you  would  be  the  feeling  with  which 
I  should  always  receive  any  request  coming  personally 
from  yourself.  ....  1  merely  wish  to  put  it  to  the 


ANECDOTES  AND  REMINISCENCES.  345 

proprietors — first,  whether  a  continuation  of  Hght 
papers,  in  the  style  of  my  *  Street  Sketches,'  would  be 
considered  of  use  to  the  new  paper  ;  and  secondly, 
if  so,  whether  they  do  not  think  it  fair  and  reasonable 
that — taking  my  share  of  the  ordinary  reporting  busi- 
ness of  the  Chronicle  besides — I  should  receive  some- 
thing for  the  papers  beyond  my  ordinary  salary  as  a 
reporter  ? "  * 

The  offer  was  accepted,  the  then  sub-editor  informs 
us,  and  ]\Ir.  Dickens  received  an  increase  in  his  salary 
of  from  five  guineas  per  week  to  seven  guineas. 


PORTRAITS  OF  DICKENS.— B^sidts  those 
enumerated  in  the  body  of  this  book,  there  are  others 
which  should  be  mentioned.  A  very  remarkable  one 
was  etched  about  1837,  with  the  name  "  Phiz"  at  the 
foot.  It  represents  Dickens  seated  on  a  chair,  and 
holding  a  portfolio.  In  the  background  a  Punch- 
and-Judy  performance  is  going  on.  The  face  has 
none  of  that  delicacy  and  softness  about  it  which 
are  observable  in  the  Maclise  portrait.  It  looks, 
however,  more  like  the  real  young  face  of  the  older 
man,  as  revealed  in  the  photograph  now  publishing. 
This  portrait  is  very  rare,  and  it  is  understood  that 
it  was  withdrawn  from  publication  soon  after  it  ap- 
peared. Mr.  Hablot  K.  Browne — the  genuine  "  Phiz  " 
— denies  all  knowledge  of  it. 

♦  Dated  "13,  Furnival's  Inn,  Tuesday  Evening,  Jan.  20, 
[>835-]" 


34^  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS. 

There  exists  a  portrait  by  S.  Lawrence,  which  was 
lithographed  by  W.  Taylor. 

In  1856,  Ary  Scheffer's  portrait  of  the  great 
novelist  was  exhibited  in  the  Royal  Academy.  It 
was  hard  and  cold,  and  gave  general  dissatisfaction. 

Mr.  Frith  painted  a  portrait  of  his  friend,  repre- 
senting him  writing  his  celebrated  compositions  at 
his  plain,  but  workmanlike,  desk.  This  portrait  is 
now  the  property  of  the  great  novelist's  friend  and 
executor,  Mr.  John  Forster ;  and,  in  due  time,  will  be 
hung  on  the  walls  of  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 
In  the  Exhibition  of  the  Royal  Academy  for  1857, 
Mr.  Frith  exhibited  a  picture  (No.  125),  "Kate 
Nickleby  at  Madame  Mantalini's."  Kate  is  holding 
a  mantle,  while  Miss  Knagg  (reflected  in  the  cheval 
glass)  is  trying  on  another. 


THE  NAMES  OF  DICKENS'S  CHA- 
RACTERS.— It  is  well  known  that  the  quaint 
surnames  of  his  characters,  concerning  which  essays 
have  been  written,  were  the  result  of  much  pains- 
taking. Dickens,  with  a  genius  which  might  have 
justified  his  trusting  it  implicitly  and  solely,  placed 
his  chief  reliance  on  his  own  hard  labour.  It  is  said 
that  when  he  saw  a  strange  or  odd  name  on  a  shop- 
board,  or  in  walking  through  a  village  or  country 
town,  he  entered  it  in  his  pocket-book,  and  added  it 
to  his  reserve  list.  Then,  runs  the  story,  when  he 
wanted  a  striking  surname  for  a  new  character,  he 


ANECDOTES  AND  REMINISCENCES.  347 

had  but  to  take  the  first  half  of  one  real  name,  and 
to  add  it  to  the  second  half  of  another,  to  produce 
the  exact  effect  upon  the  eye  and  ear  of  the  reader 
he  desired.^' 

\*  In  Notes  and  Qncj'ics  for  August  28,  1858  (this 
periodical  takes  its  motto  from  one  of  Mr.  Dickens's 
characters),  it  was  suggested  that  the  name  of 
*'  Carker  "  was  framed  from  the  Greek,  as  so  much  is 
said  of  Mr.  Carker's  teeth.  Mr.  Dickens,  however, 
replied  to  this,  that  the  coincidence  was  undesigned. 
It  has  been  further  suggested  that  the  name  was 
made  up  from  "canker"  and  "carking"  (as  in 
"  carking  care  "),  which  are  very  expressive  of  the 
blighting  influence  possessed  by  Carker. 

It  has  been  stated  that  the  Pickwickian  names 
of  Wardle,  Lowten,  and  Dowler  occur  in  the  Aimual 
Register's  account  of  the  Duke  of  York's  trial,  1809. 

Some  inquiry  is  made  as  to  the  names  of  Mr. 
Dickens's  characters  in  an  article  on  the  novelist,  in 
Blaekzvood's  Magazine^  April,  1855. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  '' BOZ''  IN  1844.— Mr. 
R.  H.  Home,  in  his  "  New  Spirit  of  the  Age,"  gives 
this  graphic  description  of  him  as  he  appeared  when  a 
young  man  : — "  Mr.  Dickens  is,  in  private,  very  much 
what  might  be  expected  from  his  works — by  no 
means  an  invariable  coincidence.     He  talks  much  or 

*  Dail^  AV^'j-,  June  11,  1870. 


348  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS. 

little  according  to  his  sympathies.  His  conversation 
is  genial.  He  hates  argument  ;  in  fact,  he  is  unable 
to  argue — a  common  case  with  impulsive  characters 
who  see  the  whole,  and  feel  it  crowding  and  struggling 
at  once  for  immediate  utterance.  He  never  talks  for 
effect,  but  for  the  truth  or  for  the  fun  of  the  thing. 
He  tells  a  story  admirably,  and  generally  with 
humorous  exaggerations.  His  sympathies  are  of  the 
broadest,  and  his  literary  tastes  appreciate  all  ex- 
cellence. He  is  a  great  admirer  of  the  poetry  of 
Tennyson.  Mr.  Dickens  has  singular  personal  activity, 
and  is  fond  of  games  of  practical  skill.  He  is  also  a 
great  walker,*  and  very  much  given  to  dancing  Sir 
Roger  de  Coverley.  In  private,  the  general  im- 
pression of  him  is  that  of  a  first-rate  practical  intellect, 
with  'no  nonsense  '  about  him.  Seldom,  if  ever,  has 
any  man  been  more  beloved  by  contemporary  authors, 
and  by  the  public  of  his  time." 

DESCRIPTION  OF  DICKENS  IN  1852.— 
Miss  Clarke,  an  American  lady,  who  visited  England 
in   1852  with   Miss    Cushman  and  a  friend,   in   her 

*  "  So  much  of  my  travelling  is  done  on  foot,  that  if  I 
cherished  betting  propensities,  I  should  probably  be  found 
registered  in  sporting  newspapers  under  some  such  title  as  the 
Elastic  Novice,  challenging  all  eleven-stone  mankind  to  com- 
petition in  walking.  My  last  special  feat  was  turning  out  of 
bed  at  two,  after  a  hard  day,  pedestrian  and  otherwise,  and 
walking  thirty  miles  into  the  country  to  breakfast." — ("  Sly 
Neighbourhoods,"  Vncotnmcrcial  Traveller^ 


ANECDOTES  AND  REMINISCENCES.  345 

"Haps  and  Mishaps  of  a  Tour  in  Europe"  (written 
under  the  assumed  name  of  Grace  Greenwood), 
says : — 

"■  He  is  rather  slight,  with  a  symmetrical  head, 
spiritedly  borne,  and  eyes  beaming  alike  with  genius 
and  humour.  Yet,  for  all  the  power  and  beauty  of 
these  eyes,  their  changes  seemed  to  me  to  be  from 
light  to  light.  I  saw  them  in  no  profound,  pathetic 
depths,  and  there  was  around  them  no  tragic 
shadowing.  But  I  was  foolish  to  look  for  these 
on  such  an  occasion,  when  they  were  very  properly 
left  in  the  author's  study,  with  pens,  ink,  and  blotting 
paper,  and  the  last  written  pages  of  'Bleak  House.'" 


BOZ'S  TABLE  HABITS.— Som^  of  the 
American  newspaper  paragraphs  about  his  personal 
tastes  gave  him  considerable  amusement.  Said  a 
Temperance  Joitrnal — 

"  The  prevailing  idea,  that  Mr.  Dickens  is  accus- 
tomed to  a  very  generous  diet,  which  has  mainly 
arisen  from  the  jovial  tone  of  his  writings,  is  quite  in- 
correct, for  we  are  credibly  informed  that  he  is  very 
careful  in  such  matters  1  " 


THE  MS.  OF  "  OLIVER  TWIST!'— h.  portion 
of  the  MS.  of  "  Oliver  Twist,"  which  originally 
appeared  in  Bcntleys  Miscellany,  is  still  in  Mr. 
Bentley's  possession.      It   has  been   suggested   that 


3SO  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS. 

it  might  fittingly  be  placed  in  the  British  Museum 
by  the  side  of  the  MS.  of  Sterne's  "  Sentimental 
Journey." 


DICKENS'S  BENE  VOLENCE.—ThQ  late  Sheri- 
dan Knowles,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  gave  an  instance 
of  his  generosity  : — "  Poor  Haydn,  the  author  of  the 
*  Dictionary  of  Dates,'  and  the  *  Book  of  Dignities  * 
(I  believe  I  am  right  in  the  titles),  was  working,  to 
my  knowledge,  under  the  pressure  of  extreme  desti- 
tution, aggravated  by  wretchedly  bad  health,  and  a 
heart  slowly  breaking  through  efforts  indefatigable,  but 
vain,  to  support  in  comfort  a  wife  and  a  young  family. 
I  could  not  afford  him  at  the  moment  any  material 
relief,  and  I  wrote  to  Charles  Dickens,  stating  his 
miserable  case.  My  letter  was  no  sooner  received 
than  it  was  answered — and  how  .'*  By  a  visit  to  his 
suffering  brother,  and  not  of  condolence  only,  but 
of  assistance — rescue  !  Charles  Dickens  offered  his 
purse  to  poor  Haydn,  and  subsequently  brought  the 
case  before  the  Literary  Society,  and  so  appealingly 
as  to  produce  an  immediate  supply  of  £60.  I  need 
not  say  another  word.  I  need  not  remark  that  such 
benevolence  is  not  likely  to  occur  solitarily.  The  fact 
I  communicate  I  learned  from  poor  Haydn  himself. 
Dickens  never  breathed  a  word  to  me  about  it." 


HOOK   AND    DICKENS.-^*' A    comparison 


ANECDOTES  AND  REMINISCENCES.  351 

seems  almost  to  force  itself  upon  our  notice  between 
the  writings  of  Hook  and  those  of  a  still  more 
popular  author,  Mr.  Charles  Dickens.  We  shall  not 
be  tempted  to  pursue  it  further  than  to  remark,  that 
their  subject-matter  being  in  some  measure  the 
same,  the  former  seems  to  survey  society  from  a  level 
more  elevated  and  more  distant  than  his  competitor ; 
his  delineations  are  in  consequence  genial  and 
sketchy,  those  of  the  latter  more  technical  and 
minute.  Hook  gives  you  a  landscape,  while  *  Boz  * 
is  tracing  every  leaf  of  a  particular  tree.  The  same 
analogy  holds  good  as  regards  their  moral  teaching. 
Hook  is  pithy,  pointed,  and  off-hand  ;  the  reflections 
of  Mr.  Dickens  are  elaborated  with  a  care  that 
occasionally,  perhaps,  detracts  from  their  effect. 
Hook  has  undoubtedly  the  advantage  of  more  ex- 
perience of  the  world,  but  the  palm  of  originality 
must,  we  should  think,  be  awarded  to  his  rival." — 
Barham's  Life  of  TJicodore  Hook, 


METHODICAL  HABITS  AND  PERSE- 
VERANCE.— One  who  knew  him  well  says  : — "  He 
did  not  w^ork  by  fits  and  starts,  but  had  regular 
hours  for  labour,  commencing  about  ten  and  ending 
about  two.  It  is  an  old  saying,  that  easy  writing  is 
very  difficult  reading ;  Mr.  Dickens's  works,  so  easily 
read,  were  by  no  means  easily  written.  He  laboured 
at  them  prodigiously,  both  in  their  conception  and 
execution.     During  the  whole  time  that  he  had   a 


352  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS. 

book  in  hand,  he  was  much  more  thoughtful  and  pre- 
occupied than  in  his  leisure  moments." 

*>*  Another  friend  has  written  : — "  His  hours  and 
days  were  spent  by  rule.  He  rose  at  a  certain  time, 
he  retired  at  another,  and,  though  no  precisian,  it 
was  not  often  that  his  arrangements  varied.  His 
hours  for  writing  were  between  breakfast  and  lun- 
cheon, and  when  there  was  any  work  to  be  done,  no 
temptation  was  sufficiently  strong  to  cause  it  to  be 
neglected.  This  order  and  regularity  followed  him 
through  the  day.  His  mind  was  essentially  metho- 
dical, and  in  his  long  walks,  in  his  recreations,  in  his 
labour,  he  was  governed  by  rules  laid  down  for  him- 
self by  himself,  rules  well  studied  beforehand,  and 
rarely  departed  from.  The  so-called  men  of  busi- 
ness, the  people  who  own  exclusive  devotion  to  the 
science  of  profit  and  loss  makes  them  regard  doubt- 
fully all  to  whom  that  same  science  is  not  the  main 
object  of  life,  would  have  been  delighted  and  amazed 
at  this  side  of  Dickens's  character." 

*^*  *'  No  writer  set  before  himself  more  labori- 
ously the  task  of  giving  the  public  the  very  best. 
A  great  artist,  who  once  painted  his  portrait  while  he 
was  in  the  act  of  wTiting  one  of  the  most  popular 
of  his  stories,  relates  that  he  was  astonished  at  the 
trouble  Dickens  seemed  to  take  over  his  work,  at  the 
number  of  forms  in  which  he  would  wTite  down  a 
thoudit  before    he   hit   out   the   one  which  seemed 


ANECDOTES  AND  REMINISCENCES.  353 

to  his  fastidious  fancy  the  best,  and  at  the  compara- 
tive smallness  of  manuscript  each  day's  sitting 
seemed  to  have  produced.  Those,  too,  who  have 
seen  the  original  MSS.  of  his  works,  many  of  which 
he  had  bound  and  kept  at  his  residence  at  Gad's  Hill, 
describe  them  as  full  of  interlineations  and  altera- 
tions." 


MANNER  OF  LITERAR  V  COMPOSITION. 
— A  writer  in  a  weekly  journal  says  : — "  I  remember 
well  one  evening,  spent  with  him  by  appointment, 
not  wasted  by  intrusion,  when  I  found  him,  accord- 
ing to  his  own  phrase,  *  picking  up  the  threads '  of 
*  Martin  Chuzzlewit '  from  the  printed  sheets  of  the 
half  volume  that  lay  before  him.  This  accounts  for 
the  seeming  incompleteness  of  some  of  his  plots  ;  in 
others,  the  design  was  too  strong  and  sure  to  be 
influenced  by  any  outer  consideration.  He  was  only 
conflrmed  and  invigorated  by  the  growing  applau  se, 
and  marched  on,  like  a  successful  general,  with  each 
victory  made  easier  by  the  preceding  one.  It  seemed 
hardly  to  come  within  his  nature  to  compose  in 
solitary  fashion,  and  wait  the  event  of  a  whole  work. 
No  doubt,  this  resulted  in  part  from  his  character  as 
a  journalist ;  and  so  did  his  utter  disdain  of  the  shams 
which  it  is  the  express  province  of  journalism  to  detect 
and  expose. 

"  His  composition,  easy  as  it  seems  in  the  reading — 
indeed,  so  natural,  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  substi- 

z 


354  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS. 

tute  any  truer  word  in  any  place — was,  we  are  told, 
elaborate  and  slow.  But,  in  his  happier  days,  the 
process  was  by  no  means  wearisome.  It  was  the  love 
of  the  idea,  that  could  not  let  it  go  till  he  had  nursed 
it  to  its  utmost  growth.  In  this  he  resembled  many 
of  the  greatest  humorists,  whose  enjoyment  of  their 
own  fancies  is  evidenced  by  the  impossibility  of 
passing  them  into  print  while  a  single  mirth-stirring 
thought  or  word  could  be  added  to  make  the  picture 
perfect.  The  result  was  invaluable.  With  the  excep- 
tion only  of  Shakspeare,  among  English  writers  of 
drama  and  fiction,  no  other  author  than  Dickens 
yields  so  many  sentences  on  each  page  of  sterling 
value  in  themselves  ;  no  other  author  can  be  read  and 
re-read  with  such  certainty  of  finding  fresh  pleasure 
on  every  perusal.  Nowhere,  with  the  one  exception, 
does  so  much  thought  go  to  finish  the  production. 
It  is  jeweller's  work,  inlaying  and  enriching  every 
part."* 


"■  THE  CHIEFS — In  his  own  immediate  literary 
circle,  and  amongst  those  who  were  on  the  most 
familiar  terms  with  him,  the  name  "  Mr.  Dickens," 
or  "  Mr.  Charles  Dickens,"  or  even  "  Charles,"  with 
his  most  intimate  friends,  was  never  heard.  The 
respect  felt  for  his  genius — his  superiority — took  a 
more  striking,  although  more  familiar  form.     He  was 

*  Weekly  Dispatch,  ]unt  i8,  1870. 


ANECDOTES  AND  REMINISCENCES.  355 

invariably  spoken  of  as  ^^  the  Chief" !  At  All  the 
Year  Round  office,  the  question  was  never,  "  Is  Mr. 
Dickens  in  ?"  but  "  Has  the  Cldef  arrived  ?"  "  Is  the 
Chief mr 


BL  UE  INK. — The  present  habit  amongst  literary- 
men — especially  amongst  those  formerly  connected 
with  Household  Words,  and  more  recently  with  All 
the  Year  Roimd — of  using  blue  in  preference  to  black 
ink,  arose  with  Mr.  Dickens.  "The  Chief"  disliked 
the  necessity  of  blotting  his  MS.  in  the  progress  of 
composition,  and  on  finding  that  a  certain  make  of 
blue  ink  dried  almost  immediately  it  left  the  pen, 
he  invariably  used  that  kind  ever  after ;  and  thus 
began  the  fashion  for  blue  ink  among  London  jour- 
nalists. 


DICKENS  IN  PRIVATE  LIFE.— One  who 
was  intimately  acquainted  with  him  says  : — "  To 
those  who  never  saw  Dickens,  and  who  ask  whether 
he  was  like  his  works,  we  answer  emphatically. 
Yes.  When  in  congenial  society,  his  humour  was 
so  abundant  and  overflowing,  that  the  impression 
it  gave  the  listener  was  that  it  would  have  been 
painful  to  check  it ;  while,  in  nobility  and  tenderness, 
in  generous  sympathy  for  all  that  is  elevating  and 
pure,  in  lofty  scorn  of  the  base,  in  hatred  of  the 
wrong,  Dickens  the  author  and  Dickens  the  man  was 

z  2 


356  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS. 

one.  The  stones  of  his  goodness  and  generosity  are 
endless.  His  was  the  common  fate  of  having  to  bear 
the  burdens  of  others  as  well  as  his  own,  and  those 
who  knew  him  under  circumstances  of  trial  unite  in 
testifying  to  the  open-handed  justice  of  the  man." 

***** 

**  Never  was  human  being  more  *  thorough.'     His 

friendship  was  a  fervent  reality,  and  he  spared  no 

pains,  and  withheld  no  exertion,  to  save  those  whom 

he  thought  worthy,  and  to  whom  his  countenance 

was  valuable.     The  whole  energy  of  his  nature — and 

the  passage  in  '  David  Copperfield,'  in  which  the  hero 

Littrlbutes  whatever  success  he  has  acquired  in  this 

life  to  his  faculty  of  devoting  his  whole  strength  and 

thoughts  to  the  subject  in  hand,  whatever  it  might 

be,  precisely  describes  Charles  Dickens  himself — was 

given  to  the  friend   as   readily  and   fully  as  to  the 

day's  work  ;  and  It  would  be  impossible  to  say  more. 

Again,  this  kindly  helpfulness  was  more  valuable  in 

Dickens  than  In  most  men,  from  his  shrewd  common 

sense,  his  worldly  wisdom,  his  business  habits,  his 

intense  regard  for  accuracy  in  detail.     Whatever  he 

said  should  be  done,  those  who  knew  him  regarded 

as   accomplished.      There  was  no   forgetfulness,   no 

procrastination,  no  excuse,  when  the  time  for  granting 

a  promised  favour  came."* 

*  Dailj  TVr:://,  June  ii,  1870. 


ANECDOTES  AND  REMINISCENCES.  357 

SYMPATHY  WITH  WORKING  MEN.-- 
A  friend,  writing  in  the  Observer,  says  : — 

"  He  took  a  certain  honest  pride  in  receiving  and 
returning  the  salutations  of  working  people  per- 
sonally unknown  to  him  as  he  walked  along  the 
City's  streets  or  the  country  roads,  and  he  was 
greatly  pleased  by  the  reception  at  Christmas  time 
of  numberless  small  presents,  generally  of  provisions, 
sent  to  him,  "  in  honour  of  the  season,"  by  humble 
and  anonymous  admirers." 


A  BEGGAR'S  ESTIMATE  OF  HIS 
GENEROSITY.— D\c\^(ins  has,  like  others  in  this 
world,  been  made  to  suffer  every  now  and  then 
for  his  good  nature.  High  up  on  a  list,  taken 
from  the  pocket  of  a  begging-letter  writer,  of 
persons  easily  induced  to  give  money  to  those  who 
pleaded  distress,  was  found  the  name  of  "  diaries 
Dickens!'  in  company  with  that  of  an  equally  kindly, 
but  more  wealthy,  charitable  person,  Miss  Burdett 
Coutts.  His  own  account  of  how  he  has  been 
victimized  by  the  clever  tales  of  systematic  impos- 
tors has  been  told  in  his  own  inimitable  way  in 
Household  Words, 


PARAGRAPH  DISEASE.— \Nnimgto  a  friend 
in  Boston,  Dickens  said  : — "  I  notice  that  about  once 
in  every  seven  years  I  become  the  victim  of  a  para- 


358  LIFE  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS. 

graph  disease.  It  breaks  out  in  England,  travels  to 
India  by  the  Overland  route,  gets  to  America  per 
Cunard  line,  strikes  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and,  rebounding  back  to  Europe,  mostly  perishes  on 
the  steppes  of  Russia  from  inanition  and  extreme 
cold." 


DICKENS  AND  TH ACKER  A  F.~Mr.  Hodder 
tells  us  that  "  Thackeray  did  not  keep  copies  of  his 
own  books.  I  was  at  his  house  when  he  had  com- 
pleted the  '  Newcomes,*  and  on  looking  at  the  book- 
shelves in  his  studio,  I  saw  a  newly-bound  copy 
of  that  work,  but  neither  *  Vanity  Fair,'  'Pendennis,' 
nor  '  Esmond.'  I  spoke  of  this  strange  want  in  his 
library ;  for  (said  I)  Charles  Dickens  has  all  his  own 
works  neatly  bound  in  the  order  of  publication." 
"  Yes,"  answered  Thackeray,  "  I  know  he  has,  and  so 
ought  I  ;  but  fellows  borrow  them  or  steal  them,  and 
I  try  to  keep  them,  and  can't." 


*^*  "  In  the  mere  matter  of  literary  style  there 
is  a  very  obvious' difference.  Mr.  Thackeray,  accord- 
ing to  the  general  opinion,  is  the  more  terse  and  idio- 
matic, and  Mr.  Dickens  the  more  diffuse  and  luxuriant 
writer.  There  is  an  Horatian  strictness  and  strength 
in  Thackeray  which  satisfies  the  more  cultivated  taste, 
and  wins  the  respect  of  the  severest  critic  ;  but 
Dickens,  if  he  is  the  more  rapid  and  careless  on  the 


ANECDOTES  AND  REMINISCENCES.  359 

whole,  seems  more  susceptible  to  passion,  and  rises 
to  a  keener  and  wilder  song.  Referring  the  diffe- 
rence of  style  to  its  origin  in  difference  of  intellectual 
constitution,  critics  are  accustomed  to  say  that 
Thackeray's  is  the  mind  of  closer  and  harder,  and 
Dickens's  the  mind  of  looser  and  richer,  texture — 
that  the  intellect  of  the  one  is  the  more  penetrating 
and  reflective,  and  that  of  the  other  the  more 
excursive  and  intuitive." — Masson's  British  Novelists 
and  their  Styles. 


%*  An  anonymous  writer  says  : — "  The  first  time 
I  heard  Mr.  Thackeray  read  in  public,  he  paid  a 
tribute  to  *  Boz.'  It  was  the  night  after  the  Oxford 
election,  in  which  Mr.  Thackeray  was  an  unsuccessful 
candidate,  and  the  kind-hearted  author  hastened  up 
to  town  to  fulfil  a  promise  to  give  some  readings  on 
behalf  of  Mr.  Angus  Reach.*  I  well  remember  the 
burst  of  laughter  and  applause  which  greeted  the 
opening  words  of  his  reading.  *  Walking  yesterday 
down  the  streets  of  an  ancient  and  well-known  city, 
I ,  but  here  the  allusion  to  Oxford  was  recog- 
nized, and  he  had  to  wait  until  the  merriment  it 
created  had  ceased.  In  alluding  to  Charles  Dickens, 
Mr.  Thackeray,  after  speaking  with  abhorrence  of  the 
impurity  of  the  writings  of  Sterne,  went  on  to  say : — 

*  The  writer  is  here  in  error.  The  Lecture  was  not  de- 
livered on  behalf  of  Mr.  Reach,  but  for  the  fund  then  being 
raised  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Douglas  Jcrrold. 


3f3o  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS. 

'  The  foul  satyr's  eyes  leer  out  of  the  leaves  con- 
stantly ;  the  last  words  the  famous  author  wrote 
were  bad  and  wicked — the  last  lines  the  poor  stricken 
wretch  penned  were  for  pity  and  pardon.  I  think  of 
these  past  writers,  and  of  one  who  lives  amongst  us 
now,  and  am  grateful  ior  the  innocent  laughter,  and 
the  sweet  and  unsullied  pages,  which  the  author  of 
"David  Copperfield"  gives  to  my  children.'  The 
author  of  ^  David  Copperfield  '  was  taken  by  surprise, 
and  looked  immensely  hard  at  the  celling,  as  if  trying 
to  persuade  himself  that  he  was  unknown  to  the 
audience.  On  the  same  night  I  heard  Thackeray 
read  Hood's  celebrated  lines,  *  One  more  unfortunate,' 
&c." 


ANECDOTE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,— 
Mr.  Arthur  Locker  says  that  the  following  sad  story 
was  related  to  Mr.  Dickens  by  the  late  Mr.  Edwin 
Stanton,  the  famous  Secretary  of  War  in  the  United 
States  Cabinet.  On  Good  Friday,  1865,  there  was  a 
Cabinet  Council  at  Washington,  and  Mr  Stanton 
chanced  to  enter  the  council  chamber  some  time  after 
the  other  members  had  assembled.  As  he  entered  he 
heard  the  President  say,  "  Well,  gentlemen,  this  Is 
only  amusement.  I  think  we  had  better  now  turn  to 
business."  During  the  meeting  he  noticed  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  remarkably  grave  and  sedate  ;  and  that, 
instead  of  strolling  about  the  room,  as  was  his  usual 
wont,  dealing  out  droll   remarks,  he  sat  bolt  upright 


ANECDOTES  AND  REMINISCENCES.  361 

in  his  chair.  On  leaving  the  Council  Mr.  Stanton 
asked  one  of  the  other  Ministers  why  the  President's 
manner  was  so  peculiar,  and  received  the  following 
explanation  : — "  When  we  assembled  to-day,  Mr. 
Lincoln  said,  *  Gentlemen,  I  dreamt  a  strange  dream 
last  night  for  the  third  time,  and  on  each  occasion 
something  remarkable  has  followed  upon  it.  After 
the  first  dream  came  the  battle  of  Bull  Run  [Mr. 
Dickens  could  not  remember  the  second  event],  and 
now  the  dream  has  come  again.  I  dreamt  that  I  was 
in  a  boat  on  a  lake,  drifting  along  without  either  oars 

or  sails,  when '     At  this  moment  you,"  said  the 

Minister,  addressing  Mr.  Stanton,  "  opened  the  door, 
whereupon  the  President  checked  himself,  and  said, 
*  I  think  we  had  better  turn  to  business.'  So  we  have 
lost  the  conclusion  of  the  dream." 

And  it  was  lost  for  ever.  The  Council  met  at  half- 
past  two,  and  on  the  same  evening  President  Lincoln 
lay  dead,  slain  by  the  pistol-shot  of  Wilkes  Booth. 


THE  CONTRIBUTORS  TO  HOUSEHOLD 
WORDS. — The  earliest  contributor  to  Household 
V/ords  may  be  said  to  have  been  Mrs.  Gaskell,  for, 
after  the  beautiful  little  introductory  address  by 
Charles  Dickens,  the  new  periodical  opened  with  a 
fine  story  from  her  pen.  Many  of  the  small  band  of 
writers  who  had  rallied  round  Mr.  Dickens,  and  who 
formed  what  may  be  called  the  staff  of  the  journal, 
were  comparatively  unknown  ;  some  were  altogether 


362  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS. 

novices,  whom  Mr.  Dickens's  quick  discernment  of 
talent  had  marked  out  as  useful  collaborateurs. 
More  than  one  young  writer,  Avhose  name  has  since 
become  familiar  to  the  public,  made  his  debzU  here. 
One  of  the  first  contributors  was  Mr.  W.  H.  Wills, 
who  had  been  editor  of  Chambers's  Joui'naly  and  who, 
for  years,  acted  as  Mr.  Dickens's  working  editor,  and 
confidential  secretary.  Besides  the  contributors 
enumerated  on  p.  196,  there  were  Mr.  R.  H.  Home, 
the  author  of  "Orion,"  Douglas  Jerrold,  and  Mr. 
James  Hannay,  who  wrote  most  of  the  sea-sketches. 
Mr.  Sala's  "  Key  of  the  Street,"  published  here,  was, 
we  believe,  his  first  appearance  as  a  magazine  writer. 
Among  other  regular  contributors  may  be  mentioned 
Percy  Fitzgerald,  Wilkie  and  Charles  Collins,  Sidney 
Blanchard,  Mrs.  Gaskell,  Walter  Thornbury,  Mrs. 
Linton,  Robert  Brough,  Miss  Amelia  Edwards,  Mr. 
J.  C.  Parkinson,  Blanchard  Jerrold,  W.  Allingham. 
The  names  of  all  the  contributors  to  the  journal, 
however,  would  occupy  more  space  than  we  have  at 
command. 


"  THE  MYSTER  Y  OF  ED  WIN  BROOD:*— 
Concerning  the  completion  of  this,  Messrs.  Chapman 
and  Hall,  the  publishers,  have  addressed  the  following 
letter  to  the  Times : — 

"  Sir, — We  find  that  erroneous  reports  are  in  circulation 
respecting  'The  Mystery  of  Edwin  Drood,' the  novel  on  which 


ANECDOTES  AND  REMINISCENCES,  363 

Mr.  Dickens  was  at  work  when  he  died.  It  has  been  sug- 
gested that  the  tale  is  to  be  finished  by  other  hands.  We  hope 
you  will  allow  us  to  state  in  your  columns  that  Mr.  Dickens 
has  left  three  numbers  complete,  in  addition  to  those  already 
published,  this  being  one-half  of  the  story  as  it  was  intended  to 
be  written.  These  numbers  will  be  published,  and  the  fragment 
will  so  remain.  No  other  writer  could  be  permitted  by  us  to 
complete  the  work  which  Mr.  Dickens  has  left." 

%*  A  letter  had  been  sent  to  Mr.  Dickens  relative 
to  a  figure  of  speech  in  Chapter  X.  of  "  Edwin 
Drood/'  which  figure  of  speech,  the  writer  stated,  had 
been  taken  from  the  description  of  the  sufferings  of 
our  Saviour,  as  given  in  the  New  Testament,  and 
applied  in  a  way  to  wound  the  feelings  of  Christian 
readers.  The  author  of  "  Edwin  Drood"  wrote  the 
following  reply  the  day  preceding  his  death.  It  has 
already  been  published  as  "his  last  words": — 

*'Dear  Sir, — It  would  be  quite  inconceivable  to 
me — but  for  your  letter — that  any  reasonable  reader 
could  possibly  attach  a  scriptural  reference  to  a  pas- 
sage in  a  book  of  mine,  reproducing  a  much-abused 
social  figure  of  speech,  impressed  into  all  sorts  of 
service,  on  all  sorts  of  inappropriate  occasions,  without 
the  faintest  connection  of  it  with  its  original  source. 
I  am  truly  shocked  to  find  that  any  reader  can  make 
the  mistake.  I  have  always  striven  in  my  writings  to 
express  veneration  for  the  life  and  lessons  of  our 
Saviour ;  because  I  feel  it ;  and  because  I  re-wrote 
that  history  for  my  children — every  one  of  wdiom 


364  LIFE   OF   CHARLES  DICKENS. 

knew  it  from  having  It  repeated  to  them,  long  before 
they  could  read,  and  almost  as  soon  as  they  could 
speak.  But  I  have  never  made  proclamation  of  this 
from  the  house-tops. 

"  Faithfully  yours, 

"Charles  Dickens." 

*i|4*  It  has  been  remarked  that  the  concluding 
words  of  the  last  number  of  "  Edwin  Drood,"* 

''  Comes  to  an  cud— for  the  time!' 

have  a  mournful  significance,  when  read  in  the  light 
of  after  events. 

But,  it  may  be  mentioned,  that  ''Edwin  Drood" 
is  also  having  an  independent  issue  -\  in  America  ; 
and  it  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  the  last  words 
in  the  part  issued  there  should  likewise  have  an 
almost  prophetic  meaning  : — 

*'  There,  there  !  there  !  Get  to  bed,  poor  man,  and 
cease  to  jabber !  With  that  he  extinguished  his 
light,  pulled  up  the  bed-clothes  around  him,  and  with 
another  sigh  shut  ant  the  worlds 

***  Relative  to  the  sketch  of  opium-smoking 
which  occurs  in  "  Edwin  Drood,"  Sir  John  Bowring 
has  written  to  the  Daily  News : — "  Connected  with 
the  name  and  history  of  Charles  Dickens,  and 
illustrative  of  his  habits  of  observation,  it  may  not 

*  June  I,  1870. 

t  Every  Saturday,  jxinc  9,  1870. 


ANECDOTES  AND  REMINISCENCES.  365 

be  amiss  to  record  that  on  the  pubHcatlon  of 
*  Edwin  Drood's  Mystery,'  I  wrote  to  him  ex- 
plaining what  appeared  to  me  an  inaccuracy  in  his 
description  and  picture  of  opium-smoking,  and  sent 
to  him  an  original  Chinese  sketch  of  the  form  of  the 
pipe  and  the  manner  of  its  employment  in  China. 
Expressing  much  gratification  with  my  communica- 
tion, he  informed  me  that  before  he  wrote  the 
chapter  he  had  personally  visited  the  eastern  districts 
of  London,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  docks,  and 
had  only  recorded  what  he  had  himself  seen  in  that 
locality.  No  doubt  that  the  Chinaman  whom  he 
described  had  accommodated  himself  to  English 
usage,  and  that  our  great  and  faithful  dramatist  here 
as  elsewhere  most  correctly  portrayed  a  piece  of 
actual  life." 


GAD'S  HILL  HOUSE.— It  has  been  suggested 
that  Charles  Dickens's  favourite  abiding  place  should 
be  purchased  by  a  general  subscription  and  kept  as 
a  national  memento  of  the  author.  It  is  further 
suggested  that  the  house  should  be  retained  by  Mr. 
Dickens's  family  for  a  term,  to  be  named  by  them- 
selves," at  the  expiration  of  which,  with  their  consent, 
the  place  should  merge  in  trustees.  Dickens  passed 
the  morning  and  afternoon  of  his  last  day  on  earth 
in  the  chalet  presented  to  him  by  a  few  Swiss 
admirers  two  years  since,  which  is  erected  in  the 
shrubbery  opposite  his  residence,  and  approached  by 


366  LIFE   OF  CHARLES  DICKENS. 

a  tunnel  underneath  the  turnpike  road.  This  chalet, 
embosomed  in  the  foliage  of  some  very  fine  trees, 
stands  upon  an  eminence  commanding  a  magnificent 
view  of  the  mouth  of  the  Thames,  and  the  opposite 
coast  of  Essex.  It  was  a  favourite  retreat  of 
Dickens. 

''ALL  THE  YEAR  ROUNDr—ThQ  following 
gracefully  written  circular  as  to  the  future  manage- 
ment of  All  the  Year  Round  has  been  issued  by  Mr. 
Charles  Dickens,  jun.  It  gives  readers  good  earnest 
of  the  talent  which  will,  in  future,  assist  and  direct 
this  favourite  periodical : — 

It  was  my  father's  wish,  expressed  in  writing  only  a  week 
before  his  death,  that  I,  his  eldest  son,  and  latterly  his  assistant 
editor,  should  succeed  him  in  the  management  of  the  journal  so 
long  associated  with  his  name.  In  accordance  with  this  clearly- 
expressed  desire,  and  strong  in  the  hope  inspired  by  so  encour- 
aging a  mark  of  his  confidence,  I  address  myself  to  the  fulfilment 
of  the  task  which  he  appointed  me  to  discharge.  It  is  intended 
that  the  management  of  All  the  Tear  Round,  in  the  future,  shall 
be  based  on  precisely  the  same  principles  as  those  on  which  it 
has,  up  to  this  time,  been  conducted.  The  same  authors  who 
have  contributed  to  its  columns  in  time  past,  will  contribute  to 
them  still.  The  same  spirit  which  has  in  the  past  pervaded  its 
pages  will,  so  far  as  conscientious  endeavour  may  render  it  pos- 
sible, pervade  them  still.  The  same  earnest  desire  to  advocate 
what  is  right  and  true,  and  to  oppose  what  is  false  and  unworthy, 
which  was  the  guiding  principle  of  my  father's  career,  and 
which  has  always  characterized  his  management  of  All  the  Tear 
Round,  will,  I  most  earnestly  hope,  continue  to  be  apparent  in 


ANECDOTES  AND  REMINISCENCES.  367 

its  every  word.  So  much,  then,  being  the  same,  it  may  not  be 
presumptuous  in  mc  to  hope  that  the  same  readers  with  whom 
this  journal,  and  that  which  preceded  it,  found  favour  for  so 
many  years,  may  still  care  to  see  the  familiar  title-page  on  their 
tables  as  of  old.  "With  this  brief  explanation  of  the  course 
I  propose  to  adopt,  and  omitting  all  reference  whatever  to  my 
own  personal  feelings  in  connection  with  the  great  sorrow  which 
has  rendered  this  statement  necessary,  I  leave  the  future  journal 
to  speak  for  itself.  *'  It  is  better  that  every  kind  of  work, 
honestly  undertaken  and  discharged,  should  speak  for  itself  than 
be  spoken  for."  These  were  the  words  with  which  my  father 
inaugurated  the  New  Series  of  All  the  Year  Round,  I  cannot 
surely  do  better  than  repeat  them  in  this  place. 

Charles  Dicken^s,  Junr, 


THE  END. 


LIFE  AND  ARECrOTES  OF  THACKERAY. 


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NEVER  BEFORE  MALE  PUBLIC, 

By      Theodore      Taylor,  Esq., 

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in  the  list 

For  historical  and  genealogical  purposes  the  little  bookis  of  the  greatest 
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EXACT  FACSIMILE,  LETTER  FOR  LETTER,  OF  THE  EXCES- 
SIVELY    RARE    ORIGINAL, 

Much  Adoe  about  Nothing.    As  it  hath  heen  sundrie 

times  publikely  acted  by  the  Right  Honourable  the  Lord  Chamberlaine 
his  seruants.    Written  by  William  Shakespeare,  1600. 

***  Small  quarto,  on  fine  toned  paper,  half -bound  morocco,  Roxburghe 
style,  only  4s.  6d.    (Original  price,  103.  6d.) 

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Mary  Hollis ;  a  Romance  of  the  days  of  Charles  II. 

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*^*  TTiis  novel  relates  to  one  of  the  most  Interesting  periods  of  our  history.  It  has  created  the 
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UNIFORM  WITH  DOCTOR  SYNTAX. 
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*#*  One  of  the  cheapest  and  most  amusing  books  ever  published.  There  are  so  many  curious 
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iv.tt oduciiun  is  almost  entirely  devoted  to  a  consideration  of  Pig-Faced  Ladiet,  and  the  various  stories 
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airin°--t  in  Rolten-row  and  drives  "around  1..- ring,'  are  all  fully  given,  together  with  the  exploit* 
of  bold  highwaymen  and  the  duels  of  rival  levers,  and  other  appellants  to  the  Code  of  Honour. 

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POPULAE  EDITION  OF  MR.  DISRAELI'S  SPEECHES. 
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Hansard's  Debates,  as  corrected  by  Mr.  Disraeli,  and  of  which  the  publisher  has  obtained  special 
licence  to  avail  himself. 

Artemus  Ward's  Lecture  at  the  Egyptian  Hall,  with 

the  Panorama,  6s.  Edited  by  T.  W.  Robertson  (Author  of  "  Caste," 
"Ours,"  "Society,"  &c.),  and  E.  P.  Kingston.  SmaU  4to,  exqui 
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emphasis,  by-play,  &c.,  with  which  it  was  delivered.  We  have  no  hesita- 
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"  The  tomahawk  fell  from  our  hands  as  we  roared  with  laugjhter — the  pipe  of  peace  slipped  from 
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liim  ill  the  si)\rit"— Tomahawk. 

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— Daily  News. 
"  It  keeps  you  in  fits  of  laughter." — Leader. 

"  One  of  the  choice  and  curious  volumes  for  the  issue  of  which  Mr.  Hotten  has  become  famous."— 
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"  The  Lecture  is  not  alone  droll ;  it  is  full  of  information."— BxofntVier. 

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***  Full  of  aviusing  stories  of  eminent  Literary  and  other  Celebrities 

of  the  present  century.     The  tvork  is  a  fund  of  anecdote. 
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"  He  was  a  pig: — take  him  for  all  in  all, 
AVe  ne'er  shall  look  upon  his  like  again." 

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THE  LONG-TAILED  NAG. 

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MR.  MOSS,  m  THE  DISCOVXTING  LINE. 

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The  Genial  Showman ;  or,  Adventures  with  Artenms 

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Pacific  Coast,  amoiip  the  Mines  of  California,  in  Salt  Lake  Citv.  and  across  the  Rocky  Mountains  j 
including  chapters  descripiSve  of  Artemus  Ward's  visit  to  luiglaud. 

8  John  Camden  Hotten,  74  and  75,  Piccadilly,  W. 


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More  Yankee  Drolleries.  A  Second  Series  of  cele- 
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*+*  An  entirely  new  gathering  of  Transatlantie  humour.    Twelve  thousand  copies  of  the  Firtt 
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UNIFORM  WITH  DE.  SYNTAX. 
Iiife  in  London;  or,  the  Day  and  Night  Scenes  of 

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IN  COLOURS,  AFTER  THE  ORIGINALS.    Cloth  extra,  73.  6d 


Tom  ami  Jerrij  taking  a  siroU. 

***  One  of  the  most  popular  books  ever  issued.  It  was  an  immense  favourite  with  George  IV., 
:\nd  as  a  pict  re  of  London  life  50  ve;ns  ngo  was  often  quoted  by  Thackeray,  wlio  devotes  one  of 
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BY  CrUIK SHANK,  183. 

*^*  This  is  the  quaint  original  edition  of  one  of  the  most  amusing  pictures  of  London  life  ever 
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Af^ply  to  Mr.  Hotten  direct /or  this  worJc. 


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MR.  JORROCK'S  JAUNTS  AND  JOLLITIES. 
LIFE  AND  ADVENTURES  OF  JACK  MYTTON. 
ANALYSIS  OF  THE  HUNTING  FIELD. 
LIFE  OF  A  SPORTSMAN.    BY  NIMROD. 
Apply  to  Mr.  Hotten  direct /or  these  hoohs. 

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VERY  IMPORTANT  NEW  BOOKS. 


Pictorial  description  of  Abyssinia. 

Dedicated  to  HER  MAJESTY  THE  QUEEN  by  Royal  Command, 

Views    in    Central    Abyssinia.     With    Portraits    Ox 

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wliicli  these  facsimiles  were  taken  is  quite  a  curiosity,  having  been  constantly  secreted  about  the 
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Mary   Lamb's    Poems    and    Letters;    with    Inedited 

Remains  of  Charles  Lamb.  Now  first  collected,  with  numerous 
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EOSAMONB  GRAT'S  COTTAGE. 


The   Collector.     Choice  Essays   on   Books,  Authors, 

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by  Dr.  Doran.    A  Choice  Book,  on  toned  paper,  half  morocco,  6s. 

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by  Mr.  John  Hill  Burton. 

"  A  comely  and  suitably  named  volume.  His  humour  and  reading  are  considerable,  and  whilst  he 
displays  the  latter  with  the  frankness  of  a  collector  not  ashamed  of  his  function,  he  exercises  the 
former  with  unflagging  spirit  and  excellent  effect." — Atkerueum. 


10 


John  Camden  Hotten,  74  and  75,  Piccadilly,  W, 


VERY  IMPORTANT  NEW  BOOKS. 


In  preparation,  an  entirely 

New  Book  by  the  late  Artemus  Ward.     Edited  by 

his  executors,  T.  W.  Robertson  and  E.  P.  Hingston.    Illustrated  with 
35  pictures,  taken  from  his  world -renowned  Panorama. 

Immediately,  cloth,  very  neat,  2s.  6d. 

The  Works  of  Charles  P.  Browne,  better  known  as 

"Artemus  Ward."    Portrait  by  Geflowski,  the  Sculptor,  and  fac- 
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History  of  Playing  Cards.    With  Anecdotes,  Ancient 

and  Modem  Games,  Conjuring,  Fortune-TeUing,  and  Card-Sharping. 
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and  Calculation ;  Cartomancy  and  Cheating;  Old  Games  and  Gamin?. 
Houses ;  Card  Revels  and  Blind  Hookey ;  Piquet  and  Vingt-et-uu ; 
Whist  and  Cribbage ;  Old-Fashioned  Tricks.    Pp.  550,  price  7s.  6d. 

"  A  higlily-interesting  volume."— it/ornin^  Post. 

Cruiksliank's  Comic  Almanack.    A  complete  set,  as 

published  in  the  original  numbers  from  1835  to  1853.  19  vols.,  neatly 
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other  Artists.     Very  scarce. 

Mr.  Sprouts  his  Opinions.    The  New  and  Gennino 

Book  of  Humour.  Uniform  with  "Artemus  Ward."  By  Richard 
Whiteing.    New  Shilling  Edition  now  ready. 


John  Camden  Eotten,  74  and  75,  Piccadilly,  W, 


vi:ry  important  new  books. 


Poems    from    the    Greek    Hythology,    and    Miscel- 
laneous Poems.    By  Edmund  Ollier.    This  day,  cloth  neat,  5s. 

""What  he  has  wrirten  is  enougr!),  anrl  more  than  enough,  to  give  him  a  high  rank  amongst  th« 
most  successful  cultivators  of  the  English  Muse."— G/o6e. 

Poems.   Characteristic,  Itinerary,  and  Miscellaneous. 

By  P.  P.  Roe.  Part  I. — Rythmical  Etchings  of  Character.  11. — 
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7s.  6d. 

Pacts  and  Fancies  from  the  Farm.    Poems  by  James 

Dawson.    Fcap.  8vo,  neatly  printed,  2s.  6d. 

"Here  we  have  some  very  pretty  and  readable  poetry— some  of  it  so  much  above  the  average  as 
to  warrant  exncctatioi:s  of  sometiiing  far  better,  and  we  shali  iook  forward  with  interest  to  the  next 
volume  from  the  same  baud." — Globe. 

The  Idolatress,   and  other  Poems.      By  Br.  James 

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Lsr^ics   and   Bucolics.     The   Eclogues   of   Virgil,   a 

Selection  from  the  Odes  of  Horace,  and  the  Legend  of  the  SibyU. 

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•■ ^ 

iBy  tlie  same  Author. — ^An  Idyll  of  the  Weald.    "With 

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The    Hew   Poetical    Satire. — Horse    and    Pootfl;    or, 

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Wit    and  Humour.    By  the  "Autocrat  of  the  Break- 
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***  A  volume  of  deliprhtfully  humorous  Poems,  very  similar  to  the  mirthful  verses  of  Tom  Hood. 
Readers  will  not  be  disappointed  with  this  work. 

Songs    of    the    Nativity.  —  Old    English    B.eligious 

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John  Ca/mden  Hotten,  74  cwici  75,  Piccadilly,  W. 


VERY  IMPORTANT  NEW  BOOKS: 


NEW   BOOK    BY   THE    "ENGLISH    GUSTAVB    DORE."— 

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"A  Munchausen  sort  of  book.  The  drawings  by  M.  Griset  are  very  powerful  and  eccentric." — 
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Scliool  Life  at  Winchester    College;    or,  the  E>emi- 

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*»*  This  book  does  for  Winchester  wliat "  Tom  Brown's  School  Days  "  did  for  Rugby. 

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Cruises  in  the  Summers  of  1851-52,  on  the  Rhine,  Neckar,  Main, 
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*j^*  This  was  the  earliest  boat  excursion  of  the  kind  ever  made  on  the  Continental  rivers.  Very 
recently  the  subject  has  been  revived  again  in  tlie  exploits  of  Mr.  MacGregor  in  his  "  Kob  Roy 
Canoe."  The  volume  will  be  found  most  interesting  to  those  who  propose  taking  a  similar  trip, 
whether  on  the  Continent  or  elsewhere. 

The  Hatchet-Throwers.  With  Thirty-siz  Illustra- 
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*^*  Comprises  the  astonishing  adventures  of  Three  Ancient  Manners,  the  Brothers  Brass  of 
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Melchior    Gorles.      By   Henry   Aitchenhie.      3    vols. 

8vo,  £1  IIS.  6d. 

*^*  The  New  Novel,  illustrative  of   "  Mesmeric  Influence,"  or  whatever  else  vje  may  choose  to 
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John  Ca/mden  Hotten,  74  amd  75,  Piccadilly,  W. 


VERY  IMPORTANT  NEW  BOOKS. 


AARON  FENLEY'S  Sketching  in  Water  Colours,  21s. 

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A  Clever  and  Brilliant  Book  {Companion  to  the  "  Bon  Gaultier 
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Pennell. 


©^  This  most  amusing  work  has  already 
passed  through  five  editions,  receiving 
everywhere  the  highest  praise  as  "  a  clever 
and  hrilliant  hook."      TO  NO   OTHER 
^  WORK  OF  THE  PRESENT  DA  Y  HA  VE 

SO  MANY  DISTINGUISHED  ARTISTS  CONTRIBUTED  ILLUS- 
TRATIONS. To  the  designs  of  GEORGE  CRUIKSHANK,  JOHN 
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PATON,  MILLAIS,  JOHN  TENNIEL,  RICHARD  DOYLE,  and  M. 
ELLEN  EDWARDS  have  now  contributed  several  exquisite  pictures, 
thus  making  the  new  edition — which  is  twice  the  size  of  the  old  one, 
and  contains  irresistibly  funny  pieces— THE  BEST  BOOK  FOR  THE 
DRAWING-ROOM  TABLE  NOW  PUBLISHED. 

In  4.to,  printed  within  an  india-paper  tone,  and  elegantly  hcu/nd,  gilt, 
gilt  edges,  price  los.  6d.  only, 

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UNIFORM  WITH  MB.  RUSKIN'S  EDITION  OF  "  GERMAtl 

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***  This  charming  volume  has  been  universally  praised  by  the  critical  press. 

The  Rosicrucians  ;  their  Rites  and  Mysteries.    With 

Chapters  on  the  Ancient  Fire-  and  Serpent- Worshippers,  and  Explana- 
tions of  the  Mystic  Symbols  represented  in  the  Monuments  and 
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los.  6d. 
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"  Curious  as  many  of  Mr.  Hotten's  works  have  been,  the  volume  now  under  notice  is,  among 
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devoted  an  enormous  amount  of  labour  to  these  memorials  of  the  ROSE-CROSS — otherwise  the 
Rosicrucians."— The  Sun,  21st  March,  1870. 

Gustave  Dore's  Favourite  Pencil  Sketches.— His- 
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admirable  letterpress  descriptions  by  Thomas  Wright,  F.S.A.  Oblong 
4to,  handsome  table  book,  ys.  6d. 


—  ^c0 


*#*  A  new  book  of  daring  and  inimitable  designs,  which  will  excite  considerable  attention,  and 
doubtless  command  a  wide  circulation. 

Captain  Castagnette.     His  Surprising,  almost  Incre- 
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(sells  at  5s.) 
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Cent,  per  Cent.    A  Story  written  upon  a  Bill  Stamp. 

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*#*  A  Story  of  "  The  Vampires  of  London,"  as  they  were  pithily  termed  in  a  recent  notoriono 
case,  and  one  of  undoubted  interest. 

John  Camden  Hotten,  74  a/nd  75,  Piccadilly,  W. 


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Fair    I&osaxuond,   and    other    Poems.     By  B.  Mont- 

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Strawberry    Hill,   and    other     Poems.      By    Colburn 

Mayne,  Esq.     In  strawberry  binding,  fcap.  8vo,  7s.  6d. 

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and  pleasing  joetry.  There  are  several  charming  pictures  of  the  historic  group,  whioh  we  know 
froiu  Horace  Walpole's  letters  and  Sir  Joshua's  paintings." — Morning  Star. 


lufelicia.  Poems  by  Adah  Isaacs  Menken.  Illus- 
trated with  NUMEROUS  GRACEFULLY  PENCILLED  DESIGNS  DRAWN  ON 
WOOD,  BY  Alfred  Concanen.  Dedicated,  by  permission,  to  Charles 
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volume  exquisitely 
got  up." — Sun. 

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pathos  and  senti- 
ment, displsiys  a 
keen  appreciation  of  ^ 

beauty,  and  has  re- 
markable earnest- 
ness and  passion." — 
Globe. 

'"A  loving  and 
delicate  care  has 
been  bestowed  on 
perhaps  the  dain- 
tiest pages  of  verse 
that  have  been 
issued  for  many 
ye  ars."  —  Lloyd's 
News. 

"  Few,  if  any, 
could  have  guessed 
the  power  and 
beauty  of  the 
thoughts  that  pos- 
sessed her  soul,  and 
found  expression  in 
language  at  once 
pure  and  melodious. 
....  Who  shaU 
say  Menken  was  not 

"  An  amusing  little  book, 
legacy  to  mankind  and  the  a 


a  poet  ?  Through- 
out her  verse  there 
runs  n  golden  thread 
of  rich  and  pure 
poetry." — Prets. 

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sionate  richness 
about  many  of  the 
poems  which  is  al- 
most startling." — 
Sunday  Times. 

"Wliat  can  we 
say  of  this  gifted 
and  wayward 
woman,  the  exist- 
ence of  wliose  better 
nature  will  be  sug- 
gested for  the  first 
time  to  many  by  the 
posthumous  disclo- 
sure of  this  book? 
We  do  not  envy  the 
man  who,  reading 
it,  has  only  a  sneer 
for  its  writer  ;  nor 
the  woman  who 
finds  it  in  her  heart 
to  turn  away  with 
averted  face." — 
New  York  Round 
Table. 

unhappily  posthumous,  which  a  distinguished  womau  has  left  as  a 

jes." — Saturday  Review, 


Anacreon  in  English.     Attempted  in  the  Metres  of 

the  Original.   By  Thomas  J.  Arnold.  A  choice  little  volume,  price  4s. 

The  Village  on  the  Forth,   and    other  Poems.     Ey 

Philip  Latimer.    Just  published,  elegantly  printed,  price  33.  6d. 

Baudelaire.      Translations    from    Ohas.    Baudelaire, 

with  a  few  Original  Poems.    By  R.  Herne  Shepherd.    Fcap,,  same 
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*<t*  This  was  the  great  philosopher's  last  contribution  to  practical  science. 

The  Book  of  ITature  and  the  Book  of  Man,  in  their 

Relation  to  each  other.  By  Chas.  0.  Groo.m  Napier,  F.G.S.  Nume- 
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Cro\vii  8vo,  cloth,  3s.  6d. 

***  A  very  curious  book,  tracing  all  European  Languages  to  an  Asiatic  source.    The  work  has 
attracted  considerable  attention  on  the  Continent. 

Malcne's  (Ed.)  Life.     By  Sir  James  Prior,  with  his 

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This  day,  handsomely  printed,  pp.  580,  price  Ts.  6d. ;  by  post  Ss. 

HISTORY    OF     SIGNBOAiiDS, 

With  Anecdotes  oe  Famous  Taverns  and  Remarkable 
Characters. 

By  JACOB  LARWOOD  and  JOHN  CAMDEN  HOTTEN. 


Old  Sign  of  the  Good  (or  Silent)  Womax. 


This  curious  work  upon  a  very  interesting  subject  has  been  divided  into  the 
following  Sections: — 

Dignities,  Trades,  and  Professiona. 
The  House  and  the  Table. 
Dress,  Plain  and  Ornamental. 
Geography  and  Topography. 
Humorous  and  Comic. 
Puns  and  Rebuses. 
Miscellaneous  Signs. 
Bonnell  Thornton's  Signboard  Exhibi- 
tion. 


General  History  of  Signboards. 

Historic  and  Commemorative  Signs. 

Heraldic  and  Emblematic. 

Animals  and  Monsters. 

Birds  and  Fowls. 

Fishes  and  Insects. 

Flowers,  Trees,  and  Herbs,  &0. 

Biblical  and  Religious. 

Saints,  Martyrs,  &c. 


Nearly  100  most  carious  illastrations  on  wood  are  given,  showing  the  various 
old  signs  which  were  formerly  hcng  from  taverns  and  other  houses.  The  frontispiece 
represents  the  famous  sign  of  "  The  Man  loaded  with  Mischief,"  in  the  colours  of 
the  original  painting  said  to  have  been  executed  by  Hogarth. 


John  Camden  Rotten,  74  and  75,  Ficcadilly,  W, 


A    KEEPSAKE    FOR    SMOKERS. 


This  (lay,  exquisitely  printed  from  "silver-faced"  type,  cloth,  verjneat^ 
gilt  edges,  23.  6d.,  post  free, 


THE 


SMOKER'S   TEXT-BOOK. 

By  J.  HAMER,  F.R.S.L. 

THIS  BXQTIISITE  LITTLE  VOLUME  COMPRISES  THE  MOST  IMPORTANT   PASSAGES 

FROM  THE  WORKS  OF  EMINENT  MEN  WHO  HAVE  WRITTEN  IN  FAVOUE 

OF  THE  MUCH   ABUSED   WEED. 


18 


THE  TRUE  CONSOLER. 


TTE  who  doth  not  smoke  hath  either 
known  no  ffreat  griefs,  or  refuaeth 
himself  the  softest  conaobition,  next  to 
that  which  comes  from  heaven  •■  What, 
Bol'ter  than  woman?"  whispent  the  young 
reader  Young  reader,  woman  t«azes  bm 
wt;U  a«  consoles.  Woman  makes  half  tha 
aoiTowt  which  she  boasts  the  privilege  to 
southe  Woman  consoles  us,  it  is  true, 
while  we  are  younz  and  handsome;  when 
we  are  old  and  uglr,  woman  snubs  and 
scolds  us  On  the  whole,  then,  woman  in 
this  scale,  the  weed  in  that,  Jupiter,  hang 
out  thj  balance,  and  weigh  them  both  ; 
and  if  thou  give  the  preference  to  woman, 
all  I  can  say  is,  the  next  time  Juno  ruffle! 
thee — O  Jupiter  1  try  the  weed. 
BULW£&'S  "What will  hedowitli  it?" 


\*  The  specimen  page  above  gives  but  a  very  slight  idea  qf  the  small,  yet  beautiful 
and  very  clear  type,  in  which  the  volume  has  been  printed,  on  the  most  delicate  of 
toned  papers. 

"  A  pipe  is  a  great  comforter,  a  pleasant  soother.  The  man  who  smokes  thinks 
like  a  sage,  and  acts  like  a  Samaritan." 

"A  tiny  volume,  dedicated  to  the  votaries  of  the  weed ;  heautifully  printed  on  toned 
paper  in,  we  believe,  the  smallest  type  ever  made  (cast  especially  lor  show  at  the  Great 
Exhibition  in  Hyde  Park),  but  very  clear  notwithstanding  its  minuteness.  In  the 
emblematic  design  of  the  German  artist,  Eetbel,  reproduced  on  the  title-page,  the 
hand  of  Death  holds  the  balance  to  show  that  the  pleasures  of  the  king's  crown  do  not 
outweigh  those  of  the  poor  man's  pipe.  The  pages  that  follow  sing  in  various  styles 
the  praises  of  tobacco.  Amongst  the  writers  laid  under  contribution  are  Bulwer, 
Kingsley,  Charles  Lamb,  Thackeray,  Isaac  Browne,  Cowper,  and  Byron." — The  Field, 


J<An  Camden  Sotten,  71  and  76,  Ficcadilly,  W. 


ADVEETISEM  ENTS. 


Hotten's  ''Golden  Library" 

OF    THE    BEST   AUTHORS. 

*:5^*  A  charming  collectioii  of  Standard  and  Fa  voiirite  Works^ 
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DISRAELI SPEECHES  on  the  conserva^ 

TIVE  POLICY  OF  THE  LAST  2>o  YEARS. 
IS.  4d.     In  cloth,  is.  lod. 

GLADSTONE speeches  on  questions  of 

THE  DA  Y.     IS.  4d.     In  cloth,  is.  lod. 
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CARLYLE ON  the  choice  of  books,    is. 

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LEIGH  HUNT tale  for  a  chimney  corner. 

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HOOD WHIMS  AND  ODDITIES.     40  Illus- 
trations, IS.     In  cloth,  IS.  6d. 
"The  best  of  all  books  of  humour."— Professor  Wilson. 

LELAND HANS  BREITMANNS  BALLADS, 

COMPLETE,     IS.     In  cloth,  IS.  6d. 
Inimitable  humour. 

HAWTHORNE note  books.     Edited  by  Conway. 

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gYRON  TRUE  STORY  OF  LORD  AND  LADY 

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By  personal  friends,  and  literary  cotemporaries. 

LONDON  :    JOHN  CAMDEN  HOTTEN,  74  &  75,  PICCADILLY. 
AND  ALL  BOOKSELLERS   AND   RAILWAY   'STATIONS.